“Who is Matt Ramsey?” Why, he’s The Citizen’s favorite candidate, obviously!

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The candidates debate was very interesting last [Wednesday] night. All four candidates demonstrated intelligence and knowledge on the issues. However, only one candidate had the “correct” answers on all of the important issues: Heidi Becker. Please consider your vote carefully. (By the way, I have no connection to the Becker campaign or to the Becker family. I am just a concerned citizen.)

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I am always sickened when I see a front page article by David Epps. You really need to know all the facts about him and his family before you allow him to publish in your newspaper. The article on “Are Women Insane” obviously stems from living conditions at home. If he wrote an article titled, “Are blacks insane?” or “Are gays insane?” there would be an uproar. Shame on your newspaper for allowing this man to voice his immature, pompous rantings every week. Does he think he is being funny? Being a bishop should equate to someone who should be admired and respected. He is neither admired nor respected by the majority of people in this community, even less now. Why don’t you have another minister in the area take over his ridiculous column? We have read enough of his good ol’ boy accounts and how wonderful he is and accomplished. Oh, please! I can’t tell you how many emails I got this morning from professionals in this community who feel the same way.

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I decided that today would be the last day my mail box was filled with junk. I noticed that between all the newspapers and junk mail, I’ve received at least three, but up to five copies of the same sale ad from stores around Fayette in one week. It’s such a waste of paper. What am I possibly going to do with three or four fliers from the same discount store? Some of the stores are more than 20 miles away, likely making any savings not worth the difference in gas. Besides harming our environment, it wastes my time and clutters my kitchen. If you want to do something about it, too, you can go to shopwise.com and have your address taken off the list. Hope someone else out there is pleased to find out that at least some junk mail is avoidable.

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If you think the crime in Tyrone has gotten worse since Southampton subdivision was built, just wait and see what happens if we get a rail system. It will just make it easier for the thugs to hop on a fast train from Union City, direct to our doorsteps. Leave Tyrone/Peachtree City alone before it is ruined for us all.

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I’m getting really tired of seeing Arthur Blank continually crying about how he feels betrayed. I wonder how Bobby Petrino felt when there was not a single word of support from Artie concerning the collection of thugs, cry babies and grossly overpaid prima donnas he assembled for a professional team. Artie should have apologized to Bobby for giving him trash and expecting a miracle. The only thing in common with a team is the jersey they wear. Until Artie can find a way to have 11 footballs on the field at the same time so they all can be stars, Atlanta is doomed. There is nothing professional about prancing, dancing and posturing after they make a play. Lest we forget, that’s what they are being paid to do. I don’t think anyone would feel really comfortable if their accountant ran up and got in someone’s face if they added the figures correctly. And I just can’t see my doctor or dentist doing a dance after successfully filling a tooth or setting a broken arm. We expect them to do what they are trained and paid to do: use their talents in a professional manner with no fanfare. And the seemingly bought and paid for apologists in the booth perpetuate the party line and continue to lament over the way poor Artie was treated. They need to take a hard look at the way Bobby was treated. Artie sat on his hands and didn’t even bother to condemn the action on the sidelines when one of his pet thug stars got in the coach’s face during the game. No word from Artie that he supported his coach. Bobby took his lumps like a man and when he reached the fight or flight point, he recognized that fight was not an option since Artie planned to kiss everyone but the coach regardless of what they did. He chose flight. Coaches gain no yards, catch no passes and make no tackles. That’s the job of Artie’s highly paid thugs. Bobby is a class act. Even now, you don’t hear him bad-mouthing Artie as he could justifiably do.

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To Fayette County School System: If this was a business you would fail. As the years go on, I get more frustrated with this school system; however, I know it is probably the same all over Georgia. I have two kids in the system and it is hitting closer to home. I hear of stories, from teachers, that kids are not performing, not passing state tests, and they are still sent on. Then the parents and administration complain. It’s a collective mismanagement of the entire system. From curriculum, zoning, nutrition, purchasing and management. What’s with the re-districting? Someone put this in Free Speech last week and put it very well. Curriculum: kids are behind and not learning what they need. We are behind other states, not to mention other countries. Problem here is class size and that the teachers are forced to teach to the dumbest kid in the class. Then, kids get homework that takes several hours after school. Wow, that’s strange that kids are now hard-pressed to do extracurricular activities, and that the obesity rate in children is rising. However, some of this is controlled, I’m sure, by the Psychological Services department, who offer kids drugs to control their behavior. You are failing. Nutrition Department, come on, have you looked at a lunch menu? Hot dogs, corn dogs, nachos, pizza, etc. How is a kid to be focused with a diet like that? I looked at their website and it is geared toward what a kid pays for lunch rather than on nutrition. You guys are failing. Purchasing, I assume you are the braniacs that make sure teachers and kids have the proper materials to learn. Then why are teaches forced to limit copies? How do they give tests to 26 kids, four times a week on 1,200 copies a month? How do they document the performance of kids not performing (they have to make copies for that as well)? How do the teachers do their job effectively? There’s lots more here but bottom line is you are failing too. Dr. DeCotis should have a doctorate degree in business rather than education. If this was a business and you had fair competition, you would fail. You need to make sure people are doing their job, and make sure that the people on the board understand this is not about a budget; it is about giving our kids a proper education and making an environment that is conducive to learning. That means have higher standards than the state requires (that’s a minimum), proper nutrition, separate the kids that need additional help, and treat the teachers with respect and give them the resources they need. Unfortunately, like most people, we trust that you are doing your job because we are forced to pay the taxes to support your failing venture. I personally am going to do what I can to get my kids in a private school. I know this will fall on deaf ears because nothing will change. But I feel strongly that the government has no idea what they are doing. Just ask a high schooler who the vice president is, or where a state or country is on a map. The impact is that you are setting these kids up for failure. Lastly, parents, you have to work with your kids at home. Teachers care and do what they can, but they are restrained by lack of supplies, direction and increased workload. Workload in both class size and documentation they have to provide to prove why a kid is failing. It all comes down to numbers, and the administration will do what they can not to lose funding and make their numbers, whether it be passing a kid that should be left back or by doing what they can to make the numbers.

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Obviously most Americans have their head buried in the sand when it comes to recognizing the threat to this country posed by the terrorists of the world. Islam is a cultist type of religion that forces people to abide by its laws against their will. It is their stated intention to make every human being on earth a Muslim by force. If we allow one Muslim country such as Iran to acquire atomic weapons, their aim will be achieved. They would not hesitate for one moment to destroy entire countries that refused to knuckle down to their demands and disavow their own religion in favor of Islam. These fanatics are making great strides in that direction because we are being too soft on them. We haven’t done half the damage to their countries that we should have done to let them know who holds the power in this world and make them back off from their stated goal of world domination.