On Oct. 4 my daughter and several of her friends who are students at Flat Rock Middle School were rounded up and made to spend the school day in “In School Suspension” because they were wearing Dixie Outfitters T-shirts. They were told that their shirts were a “distraction.” Apparently the “FUBU,” Malcolm X, and “Real men are black” T-shirts the black students wear, and the Mexican flag shirts the Mexican students wear, are not considered a “distraction.” It seems that diversity and tolerance are only important when it benefits minorities. If the truth about what the Confederate Battle Flag stands for were taught in the public schools instead of the politically correct version, no one would be offended by it. I have been told by some of the students that some of the kids at Flat Rock claim to be in gangs, and even wear their gang colors. I tried to calm their minds by telling them that they are probably just wannabe gangsters, but they assured me that people have been “jumped in” (beat up) for their gang initiation. Apparently it’s not a distraction unless they are wearing Dixie Outfitters shirts.

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Racists are alive and well in Fayette County schools, starting with the principal and vice-principal of Flat Rock who took my son out of school last year because of several problems that black children and a black teacher were causing. The vice-principal refused to do anything about it. I have talked to other parents and the same problems are occurring this year but worse. Why is it a black kid can wear a shirt that says ”Real men are black” or “Black power” shirts and the white kids can’t express their freedom of speech by wearing Dixie Outfitters shirts. If any one has half a brain they would really know that the Rebel flag does not stand for slavery or anything remotely close. I’m sick and tired of the blacks shoving it down my throat how they are black and how I owe them something. My relatives never owned slaves or oppressed them. What happened to equal rights? Today’s minority is the white, Christian male.

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My daughter and some of her friends were made to spend yesterday in “in school suspension” because they were wearing Dixie Outfitter T-shirts. Apparently some students at Flat Rock Middle School thought the shirts were offensive. The shirt my daughter had on had a small emblem on the front of the T-shirt that was the Confederate flag and on the back was a picture of two pickles and underneath the pickles one said 98 percent sweet and the other said 2 percent sour. Someone tell me how that is offensive? The flag issue is very controversial, we all agree on that. But one cannot rewrite history. The flag is part of our history, good or bad. I would like to see all kids treated fairly. If black kids can wear shirts with slogans such as “Real men are black” and “FUBU,” then my child should be able to wear her Dixie Outfitter shirt.

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Do you think your child is safe at school? We did until our 11-year-old sixth-grade son came home and told us he had been physically assaulted by an eighth-grade boy who is almost 15 years old and the biggest boy at Rising Starr Middle School. Our son was in the bus loop at school where he was approached by a group of boys over a period of several days who had been harassing him by calling him names as he was waiting to board the school bus home. This bullying escalated to the point that my son was grabbed by his neck, picked up off the ground and thrown down, landing on his back with scrapes and bruises to show for it. According to the school’s top administrators, supposedly there was enough supervision in the bus loop to prevent this kind of bullying but not one of them were there to help my son. We were appalled by the way this situation was handled by the school, a school that is given the honor of being a Lighthouse School. It took two weeks with numerous phone calls, e-mails and a meeting to get the school to make changes to put the safety of our kids first. We’re lucky it wasn’t our son’s head that hit the pavement first instead of his back. This kind of behavior must be dealt with properly. The school’s minimum changes to solve this problem are not adequate. This eighth grade boy is still pushing and shoving other children in the same bus loop and for some reason these actions are still going unnoticed. We had hoped that the school would do the right thing and deal with the bullies and assure the children who do nothing to provoke this kind of treatment that they can feel safe at school. But we’re still waiting and now we feel we have no other choice but to go outside the school and file charges against this boy to protect our child and maybe yours. Our son is at school to learn. We’re just sorry this is the number one lesson he has had to learn the hard way.

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Re: bullying in schools. The primary way we learn is by imitation. When students witness a principal bullying a teacher, that action indicates this behavior is acceptable. This does not occur often, but it has occurred at a specific elementary school.

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I know many people have a strong aversion to the witchcraft in the [Harry Potter] books; however, the famous Christian author C. S. Lewis wrote the “Chronicles of Narnia” series. This book series also includes a witch, as well as an overall evil character versus the good. Tolkien was his great friend and he also has written stories of fantasy and evil that many of our children have read. As for those opposed to the series, I believe that is all a parenting issue. If a person is so opposed to his or her own children reading the books, then do not allow them to read them. I grew up with Halloween, AC/DC, Disney’s “Song of the South,” and all of the other issues of the world. I am okay now. I am not a Satanic worshiper, I am not a mass murderer, I love people of all races, and I am still a Christian. It is the job given to my husband and myself to teach our children the difference between right and wrong, as well as the difference between fact and fantasy. I think it would benefit no one to take the Harry Potter series from the shelves of our schools.

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A neighborhood feeding system for school boundaries needs to be put into place. A two-mile buffer should circle each elementary, middle and high school. If you are within those two miles, you will always attend those schools and can not be bused elsewhere. This will save in fuel costs geographically for busing, preserve whole neighborhoods close by as a base feeder system for each school and will help with stabilizing capacities. This two-mile feeder would outline a clear permanent boundary for each school and keep from redistricting (or rumors of redistricting) every couple of years due to demand. It would also help in planning future schools from being built so close together. Schools are wonderful in Fayette County; that is why we all live here. We all care about and love our kids and want the best for them. We all have chosen to make a Fayette County education a priority for our children and do not live elsewhere. A big thank you to every teacher and everyone at FCBOE for making all of our schools wonderful. But remember, no child should ever have to pass a school they can walk to just for redistricting or a population need at that time. A growing community needs a permanent proximity school feeding map that must be drawn and become the basis for the redistricting of all schools in the county for the inevitable future growth. This will get the FCBOE thinking ”outside the box” but at the same time stabilize our schools and make neighborhood school communities throughout our entire county.

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Lynn Westmoreland is hiding from his constituents. First he refuses to get involved to help protect residents in his district from the hazardous PSC pollution. Now, he refuses to take a stand on GOP Rep. Mark Foley’s predatory practices and the GOP House leadership’s efforts to cover-up Foley’s activities. When all this started, I called Westmoreland’s office and asked if he still supports House Speaker Dennis Hastert, after all the evidence that the Speaker had covered up Foley’s predatory behavior. As I write this, I’ve had no response. Now, it turns out that the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, GOP Rep. Tom Reynolds, who knew about Foley’s antics last year and took a $100k contribution from Foley, actually talked Foley into running for office again this year. How about it, Lynn: will you invite GOP Speaker Hastert to come campaign for you? Will you invite National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Reynolds to come campaign or raise money for you? Oh, and Lynn, will you return all the tainted money your campaign received from Mark Foley and the NRCC?

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What a really bad example to set for our children. When my seventh grader read the article about Mr. Westmoreland threatening to sue the newspaper, he asked why Mr. Westmoreland would do such a thing. I explained our freedom of speech and how the Founding Fathers tried to create a system where the government is supposed to work for the people and not the other way around. We decided that its people like Mr. Westmoreland and Mr. Logsdon who have caused many in our country to lose faith in the political process. When you look at how the lies and big dollar special interests affect our local politics, is it any wonder that so few of us show up at the polls?

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The Saturday AJC reported on the explosion and fire at the hazardous-waste plant in Apex, South Carolina. This is the same type of plant as the PSC facility on the Fayette and South Fulton border. The firefighters didn’t even try to put out the fire with all the hazardous fumes. Instead, they evacuated all the homeowners to safety. Needless to say, this makes a lot of us angrier at our college dropout U.S. Representative Lynn Westmoreland for protecting the PSC facility, and for supporting lower standards for such operations in Congress. We know we have a problem; just ask the people of Apex, S.C., and Lynn Westmoreland has chosen to disgracefully protect PSC.

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As I ride my golf cart (yellow sticker affixed which has greatly improved my quality of life — hah) along Lake Peachtree and admire the pornographic and satanic graffiti painted on neighboring fences and structures, not to mention the graffiti painted on the paths by running clubs, I find sad irony in the city’s priorities when it comes to the proposed stringent enforcement of greenbelt laws. While the lakes of our community are currently major providers of daily enjoyment, my understanding is that they may soon be ornaments to be viewed from a distance by all but a few owners on the west side of Lake Peachtree. Gone will be the opportunity to fish the banks wherever one pleases. No more will dog walkers be allowed to let their canine companions take a quick dip unless at a boat ramp. Kids will no longer be allowed to explore nature on The Forbidden Greenbelt. Perhaps the greatest impact of all will be the loss of family gatherings at water’s edge on July 4 when the fireworks display may only be viewed legally from the library parking lot or some other remote location. It’s time for all residents of Peachtree City to consider how their freedoms and quality of life are and will be affected by the management of the greenbelt before the barbed wire goes up. P.S.: Respect yourself and your neighbors and put litter in trash cans.

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The PTC mayor and council are a bunch of cowards. They are running with their tails between their legs by backing away from the strict buffer standards in place for Lake Peachtree. Grandfathering the violators sends the message that the law can always be abandoned when convenient. Bad decisions regarding our tree buffers and water supplies have long-term negative consequences, so please toughen up and defend the best interest of the city, and not the interests of the violators.

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Well, I see the local Rethuglicans are up to their old, illegal activities again. They’ve gotten pretty brazen, stealing campaign signs right out of people’s yards. So much for the right to free speech. The next time someone comes into my yard to steal my signs, they will be introduced to my law firm of Smith & Wesson.

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Judi Rutherford has been on the city council for two to three years and she admits she doesn’t have a decent understanding of the city’s employee structure and job duties. It’s mind-blowing to think Rutherford has been voting on city budgets year after year and she had little idea of how things work. And then there’s the mayor. The guy who misleads the public on tax relief, ends up creating the highest rate of taxation in the city’s history. Now he wants to add new positions on the payroll and continue to create distance between him and his promises. Clueless and misleading are not the two best attributes for good government. Someone please run against Rutherford and her incompetence when the time comes.

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Wonder what my fellow Fayette County residents would be saying if our home gained national notoriety, being among all of the recent glaring headlines of child assaults or murder? I would imagine that if a potential threat to our youth was locally identified, even if it might involve a different venue, and then something bad did occur, with no action or only minimal action being taken by our officials, someone’s head would be on a platter and the news media would be screaming (Who knew what and when? Sound familiar?). Here we have a case in which our children were protected when far away from home because an official gained foreknowledge and did what he thought was correct. Yes, I feel there are probably efficient officers in that distant venue, but how serious would they take such information regarding a potential threat from elsewhere? During the critical times, how much of their staff was on annual vacation? Sick leave? Off on advanced training courses at their police academy? Handling other emergencies? Working on other manpower consuming projects or investigations of their own? All of that is very difficult to anticipate from afar. No chance should ever be taken when the safety of our citizens is involved, especially our vulnerable youth. One of the major reasons I live in Fayette County is that the Sheriff’s Department, as well as the other local agencies, protect my family very well as they go about life in this great community. Having worked as head of a police agency for many years, believe me when I say these departments are second to none in their service to our citizens. Yes, law enforcement officers are human and humans can make mistakes, but there is a long list of service related horror stories coming out of other counties that, if openly revealed to all, would make folks cringe. If our citizens only knew....

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It seems as though based on the facts of the audit conducted in the Sheriff’s Department, demoted Lt. Col Jordan and others have been having a good time over the years at the taxpayers’ expense. At most companies when employees break and flagrantly disregard the rules they find themselves looking for another job. I guess we will see if the good ol’ boy system overrides. Remember, what goes around comes around. Get someone who wants to treat kids fairly and do things the honest way. Thanks to County Commission Chairman Dunn for getting this out in the open, helping clean up this mess and get things back on track.

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We can now see why Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan had such a nice tan year-round. Those all-expense-paid trips to Florida and Las Vegas did the trick. Even as loose as things were at the Sheriff’s Department, what they were doing pales in significance to the $1.5 million in illegal loans of the Peachtree City Development Authority. The authority’s actions will go down as the most expensive abuse of power in Fayette history. At least with the Sheriff you have receipts.

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I was a juror in the DUI case held in state court last week. I am also the mother of four and very against drinking and driving. I know that this is murder on our streets and my children have been told time and again that they would be in the worst kind of trouble if they ever did drink and drive or even get into a car with a person under the influence of alcohol. As for the charges against this particular man, the judge actually dropped the two counts of child endangerment charges. The police officers failed to obtain the correct information needed to prosecute these charges. It was not a cut and dry case. In fact, there were many other things to consider. The man was in the process of a divorce from his now ex-wife and it appears to have been an extremely nasty situation. I have seen others in such nasty divorce situations and it seems anything goes. We, the jury, did not have evidence enough to convict this man of the charge of DUI. The police officers did have a video, but it was turned on after all of the field sobriety testing was completed. Without this evidence combined with the other information brought out in his trial, we could not find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He may have been drinking, but the law states that just proof of having had a drink without proof of impairment does not make a person guilty of DUI. We never had proof of impairment. I believe that the six jurors on this case were very fair and would have made the correct decision in any trial. It was an honor to meet and know that there are very open-minded and fair citizens in our community that would have made the right call had the evidence been more clear. Hopefully, these officers will know that we needed to see the field sobriety testing, and will think about that in future cases. Also, I would like to give a big thanks to both these officers and all of our law enforcement professionals. You guys do the best you can at keeping our community and roads safe. And thank you, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. I’m just sorry this did not seem fair to you. As I have stated, I am a mother who cares also.

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After the recent horrible accident on I-85 South Peachtree City exit, I think it is time something is done. “Cutters” traveling 70 mph who feel they deserve to be in front of everyone are causing these accidents everyday. They speed up trying to get in front of as many cars as they can then, cut into the lane and then slam on the breaks and cause a chain reaction which often causes an accident that they never realize. If everyone would just stay in line, traffic would exit at a good pace. Do these “cutters” think their time is more valuable then everyone else? Do they not know the danger they cause everyone else? A suggestion: paint a double white line one mile before the exit, then patrol it occasionally. I think after a few tickets this would stop the problem. How many more injuries and even deaths will happen because of these “Cutters” before the problem is fixed?

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Should I have offended anyone with my negative view of the president and his party, allow me to apologize. If we mortals have offended, then give us a chance and all is mended. Having watched George Bush for six years, allow me to be the first to apologize to Dan Quayle. You were smart enough to be president. We are at war in far-off lands. We try to police the world. Our leadership is driven by ego and greed. Our representatives amuse themselves with children. We are the new Roman Empire. I am an (select one) actor/politician. I am in trouble. Do I (A) say I was drunk; (B) I am going into rehab; (C) I was abused when I was younger; or (D) all of the above?

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In reply to the military parent who suggests that I “stand in front” of the troops if I don’t “stand behind” them. I appreciate your emotion and your thoughtful reply but you seemed to have missed my point. First of all, as an American who spent eight years in the military, whose father spent four years crawling through blood and sand in WW II South Pacific, whose brother and uncle survived tours in Vietnam, and who is the father of five sons, none of whom I wish to bury due to the arrogance of the current administration, let me assure you that I would expect your son and all of our troops to take whatever measures necessary to secure their personal safety. I wish him and all of them a quick and healthy return home. Disagreeing with the administration does not mean that I do not support our troops, only that I intend to exercise the freedoms that I and mine have helped secure. But, the decisions being made in Washington now will have repercussions far beyond the current struggle. We risk losing even more global support for our way of life if we continue this way. We have dealt with insurgencies before. We operated as insurgents during our Revolutionary War. Our forefathers were considered terrorists by the British Empire. But we had a cause, namely that we had become an occupied nation and that an outside government was imposing their rule over us. Do you really believe that the people in the Middle East see their current lot any differently? In the name of national security, we are on a very obvious campaign to take control of the greatest source of oil on the planet and our occupying these nations only ensures more attacks across the globe from those who see themselves as victims of our empire. These are the discontents to which I refer, not the individual fanatic duped into believing that his is a religious cause but rather the acceptance and support of their fellow citizens. I have to believe that the $300 billion (and counting) that has been spent so far on this enterprise to secure oil could have made a real impact on other energy technologies that would remove the security factor from that part of the world. I am incensed that oil corporations use the lives of our youth and our religious faiths to secure their wealth. Why are you not?

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I was already disgusted by the “Sonny Do” ads. The senior citizens in one of the ads (according to the AJC) are retired state employees with a salary of $90,000 plus per year. When Sonny appointed Fayetteville Mayor Steele to an “important” position, that did it. For the first time in my life, I am going to vote for a Democrat.

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Fayette County is lucky to have a professional quality theater group. I attended their performance of “Oklahoma!” at the Peachtree City amphitheater last weekend and it was incredible. If you have a chance to attend this weekend, you will become an enthusiastic supporter of Twilight Theatre.

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1. The sheriff: Longest running in the state; evidently somebody trusts his judgment. 2. Greg Dunn: Did he get re-elected? 3. Developers and construction haters: Unless your family has owned land for several hundred years in Fayette County, more than likely you bought your land or home from a builder or developer. 4. PTC: It’s nice, the politicians are self-serving but they are politicians. What did you expect?