The Clarion Issue

The current situation in the area of Palestine has drawn more and more international attention to the plight of the Palestinian population, which has lived under Israeli domination since Israel seized the West Bank area in the 1967 War. While peace has always been the stated goal of both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, more people, especially the media and international policy makers, are beginning to realize that both sides never intend to reach a reasonable peace accord and intend to continue the conflict indefinitely. Peace is not the goal of Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Authority or Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister.

For many years, Israel held the high ground in American public opinion. Israel was seen as a small state, surrounded by enemies, and in need of the tools with which to defend itself against constant aggression. Israel’s willingness to take a few on the chin for the old Gipper during the Gulf War elevated the Jewish State’s prestige in the eyes of the American public and political leaders. However, the recent violent excursions into Palestinian cities and refugee camps have caused Israel to be perceived as the aggressor by many nations, especially our “allies” in the European Union (EU).

During the spring incursion into the West Bank, the Israeli Army did millions of dollars worth of damage to the infrastructure of the area. Much of the cost of building the area had been borne by donations and loans from the EU, the United States, and various Arab states. A lot of the destruction in the area, especially near the refugee camp of Jenin, was viewed as unnecessary, blatant, and willful devastation by the world. The killing of civilians by the Israeli Army was perceived as tantamount to ethnic cleansing. Israel has lost a tremendous amount of clout in world public opinion. The vote of Sharon’s Likud party in late May to never make peace with the Palestinians and never to allow a Palestinian state in the area has reinforced the idea that Sharon and his party are totally unwilling to make peace with the Palestinian people.

Another major problem in the area is the Palestinian leadership. Arafat has been criticized by many world leaders as unwilling to make peace and encouraging the violence in the West Bank area. Arafat’s failure to accept the peace deal, brokered by former President Clinton, is a case in point. At Camp David and Oslo the then Israeli Prime Minister was willing to give the Palestinian people statehood and return a lot of territory taken in 1967; however, Arafat refused to accept the deal because it did not include the old city of Jerusalem. Arafat and the Palestinians could have made their capital in East Jerusalem, which was part of the deal. Arafat has refused to reign in the terrorist units he created and has encouraged the constant terrorist pressure put on the Israeli population over the last two years. The Israeli government now refuses to deal with Arafat.

The siege of the Church of the Holy Nativity, which lasted 39 days, has also shocked world opinion. The desecration of Christian holy places by conflicting sides in the West Bank has made the world realize that a permanent settlement to the crisis must be reached.

The major powers in the region and the world are now putting pressure on the Unites States to solve the problem. Several Arab states are willing to pressure Arafat into accepting a reasonable peace. The EU is in a good position to pressure both the Palestinians and Israel into serious negotiations. The Bush administration now realizes that before it can move on Iraq, the Palestinian issue must be solved and will probably use its influence to soften the Israeli position. The time is right for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, which has gone on for three generations. Israel has lost the moral high ground. Today the Israelis and Palestinians can negotiate on a level playing field.

Almost everyone is now familiar with or has at least heard of the town of Roswell, New Mexico, and the events that occurred there in early July 1947. For those that are unfamiliar with the events here is a quick and brief overview.

Mac Brazel was a rancher north-northwest of Roswell, New Mexico. On or about 4 July there was a severe thunderstorm. Mac and a neighbor's son rode out to check on the sheep after the storm. They found a lot of metallic debris scattered over a large area and a gouge about 10 inches or so deep in the soil that was several hundred feet long. Mac noticed the metal had unusual properties. He took several pieces back to the ranch and stored a large piece in a shed. Later he showed the metal to his neighbors, who recommend he take the debris to the sheriff. After a day or so, Mac took the metal to the sheriff in Roswell. The sheriff called the nearby air base, home of the 509th Bomb Group, and also the only home of America's nuclear/atomic weapons.

Major Jesse Marcel, an intelligence officer, and Captain Sheridian Cavitt, a counter- intelligence officer, followed Mac Brazel back to his ranch to investigate the debris. It was too late to see the debris field so they spent the night at the ranch. Mac Brazel was not be seen for several days without military personnel by his side.

Major Marcel found the debris field to be quite large, about 3/4 of a mile long and a few hundred feet wide. Some of the debris is light like the foil of a cigarette pack, and other samples resembled small I beams that are very light, almost weightless. The I beam samples would neither bend nor break and had unknown characters in 2 colors on them. When Major Marcel tried to burn the material with his cigarette lighter, it would not burn. Major Marcel picked up enough debris to fill his car. On his way back to the base he stopped and showed the material to his family.

Major Marcel said the debris was not like anything he had ever seen. Major Marcel was familiar with all aircraft, weather balloons, and experimental balloons as well as the V-2 rockets tested at White Sands.

On 8 July 1947, Walter Haut, the base public relations officer, released the story that the Army Air Force had found a flying disc.

The Army Air Force immediately began denying the discovery. They promptly retracted the story and began lying to the American people.

Fifty-five years later, we still know very little about the Roswell crash. The Air Force and government initiated a very intentional and devious cover up of the entire incident and investigation.

Something did crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in July of 1947. Numerous witnesses saw an explosion and the debris from the field. Several have claimed to have seen a “flying disc” and alien bodies.

Mac Brazel’s demeanor changed after his detention by the military. Brazel was ignoring friends and people in the streets, which was unheard of for him and his friendly ways. He also changed his story as to when he found the debris. He has reportedly stated that "I wished I'd never found the damn thing". He never spoke or said anything else about the incident.

Major Jesse Marcel made a deathbed declaration that he was forced to lie about the occurrence and say it was a weather balloon.

The Air Force later revealed it had lied and indicated that it was not a weather balloon...it was a RAWIN a balloon that was used as a radar target and for radar calibration.

In the early 1990’s the Air Force was forced into an investigation by the Government Accounting Office and issued another official report. It seems that the Air Force lied to the American people again. It was now not a weather balloon, or a RAWIN; it was actually a highly classified project called "MOGUL". “MOGUL” was a program to use high altitude balloons to eavesdrop on the Soviet Union's atomic testing.

About the people that reported seeing alien bodies near the site in 1947, the Air Force claimed the people were mistaken; what they actually saw test dummies used in high altitude test drops. However, evidence later demonstrated that the Air Force did not start using these dummies until several years later.

What do we know? We know we do not have proof of extraterrestrials. We do have more than ample proof we have been lied to. The government and Air Force have continued to lie about UFO investigations from project “SIGN,” to project “GRUNGE,” to project “BLUE BOOK.” Project “BLUE BOOK” left 10% (approximately 1200)

Will we ever know what happened at Roswell, New Mexico, in July of 1947? Fifty-five years later, as we watch the prequel to Star Wars and rewatch Independence Day on our VCRs, we need to consider why the government and Air Force covered up the Roswell crash and investigation.

A CLARION ISSUE SPECIAL COMMENTARY:

2002 SESSION RECAP

A REPUBLICAN PERSPECTIVE By Ga. Senator Eric Johnson, Senate Republican Leader, April 2002 Back to Top

After the longest session since 1885, legislators headed home to families, jobs, and new districts. In spite of its length, little of substance was handled. With the largest job losses in the nation last year, you would think that the Barnes/Taylor administration would be focused on improving the economy and helping people who are hurting. No. The problems of mainstream Georgians such as healthcare, jobs, taxes, and education were ignored in favor of issues that poll well or that Democratic donors wanted addressed. Government exists solely to maintain power for the Democratic Party. This year, it was more apparent than ever!

SPENDING: As most people know, we deal with two budgets each year. We amend the budget of the present fiscal year (FY 2002) and pass a budget for the next fiscal year (FY 2003). In spite of the howls of a recession and a tight budget, the amended FY02 budget had a surplus of $1.32 BILLION. (A surplus represents more revenue – taxes - coming in than is needed to run state government. Republicans believe that this “over taxation” should be returned to the taxpayers or be used to reduce debt unless a 2/3 supermajority agrees on new spending initiatives. Democrats believe this is their re-election kitty.)

Even with a $1.3 Billion surplus, the Atlanta Democrats cut programs for needy Georgians in the middle of a recession, and spent 90% of the surplus on new programs and bigger government. Remarkably, they also added $1.34 BILLION in new debt! That is double any previous debt. $133,741,900 is now used annually for debt service. That money could be used in a lot of places – including tax reduction.

Republicans tried to amend the budget to create a pilot program of prescription drug assistance for low income Georgians. We tried to retire $300 million in debt and return $100 to every single taxpayer. We tried to add teacher aides in the 1st grade classrooms and restore cuts in teacher training. In healthcare, we tried to restore cuts to the mental health area, fund the Family Caregiver Act (for people who care for aging parents in their homes), and provide health insurance for the children of the working poor. And we tried to beef up funding for the State Ethics Commission. All of these amendments were beaten by the Barnes/Taylor forces and the Atlanta Democrats.

The FY 03 budget was a bit more conservative yet still contained more than $14 million in pork, including a statue of a jackass in Perry, Georgia. GOP amendments included providing another salary step increase for veteran teachers and provide more healthcare coverage for our poor citizens. All GOP amendments failed on a party-line vote.

EDUCATION: The Governor and the Republicans worked together to improve the chances of approval for a charter school and that they receive equal funding. Yet, Democrats rejected GOP efforts to make schools safer and more accountable. Senate Republicans offered proposals to allow a child who is a victim of a crime at school or who attends a dangerous school to attend any other public school in their district. We also proposed to remove unruly children from school buses after 2 offenses. Both of these killed by the Democrats in spite of a highly publicized event where an intruder smashed a hammer into the skull of an elementary school girl. The girl survived, fortunately, but will have to stay in that same school with nightmares instead of changing schools.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS: In a shameless display of politics, Democrats tried to break the rules and increase taxes on businesses to fund unemployment for victims of domestic violence. They were caught and gave up. Republicans proposed using some of the money for pork to create a “Domestic Violence Unemployment Compensation Fund” to accomplish the same goal without taxing business for a non-business related social issue. Guess what? The Barnes/Taylor Democrats opposed us. They would rather raise taxes on businesses than reduce their pork to help victims of domestic violence.

TAXES: The budget includes another increase in “grants to local governments” to roll back local property taxes a little. This was a campaign promise of Barnes and the GOP has supported him. However, we have urged using more of the surplus to reduce property taxes even more. Barnes and the Atlanta Democrats are only willing to use 10% of the surplus for tax cuts.

A GOP proposal of a back-to-school sales tax holiday was stolen by the Barnes/Taylor administration this year and passed. When liberals steal a conservative idea, they can’t quite get it right. So the Democratic version limits the sales tax break to $20 for supplies and is only for two weekends this year – an election year by chance. GOP efforts to make the holiday permanent, to lift the $20 cap on school supplies, and extend the tax break to band and sports gear were defeated.

The Democrats raised the gas tax on large industry, allowed a one cent sales tax hike in Atlanta (to the highest in the State – 8 cents), and tried to raise the unemployment taxes on every single business. These will stifle economic growth and cause job losses.

Republicans have blocked Democratic efforts to raise the gas tax. And when the Speaker agreed with Republicans that shifting one penny of existing sales tax on gas to fund local road improvements, the Senate Democrats killed it. Local property taxes will now fund road improvements.

Finally, our main economic proposal was to phase out the state’s income tax on all Georgians over 65. Economic studies indicate that the state will increase revenue within five years by attracting wealth, particularly in rural Georgia, as retirees get fed up with Florida and Arizona. It would create jobs and improve the quality of life for our seniors. The Atlanta Democrats said “NO”.

REDISTRICTING: After a federal court threw out the State Senate map because it violated the Voting Rights Act, the Atlanta Democrats came right back with another partisan, gerrymandered plan that breaks 80 counties into districts that climb around this state like kudzu. They also included $1.8 million in the budget to pay for their Democratic trial lawyers defending this map in court. Every taxpayer is paying for the legal expenses to defend a partisan plan. This second map will soon be re-submitted to court for approval. Ultimately, it is not the Republican Party that will get hurt by this plan. It hurts democracy itself by making it harder for people to influence elections and the votes of their elected representatives.

HOMELAND DEFENSE: Democrats passed a Republican bill that created a new crime of “domestic terrorism” and places it under the death penalty statute. We also funded new public health and law enforcement communications systems and began a review of our system of trauma centers. Democrats defeated a Republican proposal to identify non-US citizens on their driver licenses and for the state to have some oversight of Hartsfield Airport – the nation’s busiest – which is run by the City of Atlanta and has been rocked by scandal after scandal.

But nothing gathered as much controversy as the bill defining the powers of government during a public health emergency or a bio-terrorist attack. The legislation originally requested by the Governor was a huge power grab and would have allowed martial law powers for the Governor and Public Health agencies, including quarantining of citizens, access to health records, mandatory vaccinations and the confiscation of guns. And the definition of “public emergency” was very broad. Republicans went to work knowing that a chemical attack is a real threat and that defining and limiting the powers of the government in such a situation is better than nothing it all. Republicans did four key things that made this bill palatable. First, we narrowed the scope of “public health emergency” and limited it to a terrorist plot not an outbreak of a disease like the West Nile virus. Second, we protected the 2nd amendment and allowed citizens to keep their private arms. If you don’t need a weapon when under attack, when do you?! Third, we provide for expedited judicial review on whether our civil rights were being violated. And, most importantly, we added automatic legislative review of the Governor’s declaration and proposed action within 48 hours. This was the key demand from conservatives to assure that the checks and balances of our three branches of government were maintained. With those changes by Republicans, most then supported the bill, which passed on the last day of the session.

ETHICS: The Senate Democrats have been embarrassed by scandal. Two former Democratic Senators are serving time in jail. One sitting Senate Democrat is under indictment for trading campaign contributions for favorable treatment of a convicted murderer. And the Senate Democratic Majority Leader paid the highest ethics fine in state history earlier this year. So they worked with Republicans to pass strong ethics reform knowing that the House Democrats would kill it. And they did! Meanwhile two members of the Board of Pardons and Parole are under investigation for being paid under the table by people doing business with them. Corruption in state government is rampant and only a two-party state will clean it up. The major ethics legislation passed by the Barnes/Taylor administration tripled the amount of money that special interests can donate and they have given Roy Barnes $11 million so far. Do you believe that they only want “good government”? Not a chance!

Georgia needs Republicans. The arrogance of 140 years of one-party rule breeds corruption and a system dependent on using the lawmaking process and tax dollars to reward friends and punish enemies. The only thing that the Democrats care about is power. Republicans offer a balance of power that forces accountability and reform. Republicans speak for mainstream Georgians and taxpayers. Elect a Republican Governor, Lt. Governor or give us the majority in the even one side of the legislature and cracks will appear in their castle. Power will shift from Atlanta to the rest of Georgia, from the special interests to regular people, and from the King to his subjects. Georgia will be healthier, safer, richer and more moral. Election Day is November 5. Be there!

The unprecedented visit by former President Jimmy Carter to Cuba in May of this year opened the door to the possibility of ending the 42-year U. S. embargo on trade and travel to Cuba. The embargo was imposed in 1961 after Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist and nationalized American commercial and industrial interest in the island nation. This action caused the communist government of Cuba to form very close trade and military ties to the Soviet Union and began 40 years of conflict between the U.S. and Cuba, which produced the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and even the Elian Gonzales affair.

The Cuban leader allowed former President Carter to inspect biological medical sites the U.S. believed to be making strands of biological material for germ warfare and allowed Carter to address the Cuban people in an open and uncensored address. The address by former President Carter criticized the U.S. trade boycott (unchanged since the Cold War) and encouraged more openness in the Cuban Government. These steps by Castro were viewed by some as a step toward tolerance by Castro. However, much to the dismay of many American people and members of Congress, Bush closed the door in a speech on May 20th.

In the speech given on May 20, 2002, by President Bush, the president indicated that before the U.S. considered lifting the boycott the Cuban government had to meet several conditions. Castro had to ensure that its 2003 elections were certifiably free and fair implying that rival political parties were represented. Cuba had to release imprisoned dissidents. Finally, President Bush indicated that Cuba had to move toward a market-based economy. The President then boarded a plane that took him to Miami, Florida, where he made the same speech at a Cuban- American Republican fund-raiser. Herein lies the problem.

The Republican Party has been courting the Cuban-American vote for several years. The Clinton Administration’s handling of the Elian Gonzales affair opened a gap between the Cuban-American bloc vote and the Democratic Party allowing the Republicans to woo the Cuban-American vote in the 2000 election. The continued Cuban Trade Boycott (demanded by the Cuban-American Bloc) would help secure this bloc for the Republican Gubernatorial election this year and the presidential election in 2004. The fact that Janet Reno, the Attorney General during the Clinton Administration and the fall guy for the Elian Gonzallas affair, is a Democratic contender for governor has not been lost on the Cuban-American voters. The fact that the incumbent Republican Governor, Jeb Bush, is the president’s brother adds to the politicization of the continued boycott.

The Cuban-American leadership contends that the continued trade boycott puts economic pressure on Castro and will eventually force him to make democratic reforms. This has not happened in over 40 years. While the Cuban-Americans seek to deprive Cubans of American goods, they send food, medicine, consumer items, and American dollars to their relatives in Cuba. While it is necessary for most Cubans to suffer the effects of the boycott, they feel their relatives are exceptions to the rule.

Many in the U.S. Congress feel the boycott is a relic of the Cold War’s past. The farming areas of America, including the Republican Midwest, support lifting the trade boycott. Tom Osborne, a Republican Nebraska Senator and former head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, indicated the boycott was a failure. “After 40 years, let’s not keep running up the middle. Let’s throw a pass. Let’s try something different.”

President Bush is also ignoring history to keep the Cuban-American vote in the Republican’s camp. History has demonstrated that the opening of free trade with command economy nations speeds the process of developing democracy and a market economy. The opening of trade with the Soviet Bloc in the 1980s helped speed the fall of Communist governments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. As trade increases so does the flow of information and democratic ideas. The more people have and see around them the more they want, and governments must respond to this or wind up on the scrap heap of history.

The continued trade boycott of Cuba is also hypocritical of the Bush Administration. The U.S. trades with China, one of the most repressive hard line Communist nations on Earth. Trade continues with China in spite of the religious repression of the Buddhist in Tibet and the Falun Gong and Christians in China. There is no market economy in China, and freedom of the press and statement went out with Mao’s “Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom” program in the 1960s. The goals of the Tiananmen Square protesters of 1989 are as far away from Beijing as the Himalayan Mountains. The only difference between trade with China and trade with Cuba is the huge, Republican leaning, Cuban-American bloc vote in Florida.

Why keep trying to run up the middle after 40 years. Maybe a pass would work. It may cost the Bush brothers a few votes, but the world may be a better place. Castro is over 70 and has cracked the door with former President Carter’s visit. Perhaps we should peek inside and see what Castro wants to offer before we slam the door shut for a bloc of votes that are here today and gone tomorrow.

The Clarion Issue also wishes to remind President Bush that he never formally thanked President Castro for offering to send observers to make sure the Florida Recount in 2000 was certifiably free and fair.

THE SOUTH CAROLINA FLAG ISSUE AGAIN Back to Top

By R. A. Pearson

There are several things in this world I do not understand. I do not understand why my VCR blinks 12:00 at me no matter what I do to set the darn thing. I don’t understand why we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t build a soda machine that will dispense a drink when the correct change is inserted into the slot. I don’t understand why an 18-year-old would strap explosives to himself and kill himself and ten others at an Israeli nightclub. I wonder why the Israeli Prime Minister feels that a two-week long rampage of the Israeli army into Palestinian refugee camps will bring peace to the area. I don’t understand why Palestinian gunmen could kill a five year old asleep in his bed. I don’t understand why our Secretary of State was sent to the Middle East to try to settle a dispute between ethnic groups by a compromise, when in South Carolina, American ethnic groups continue to argue over a two-year-old compromise about the Confederate Flag and desecrate each other’s memorials.

On April 18th an African American man wearing a black Santa Clause suit set fire to the Confederate Battle Flag while it flew over the Confederate Memorial on the grounds of the South Carolina Capital. The police arrested E. R. Eddy, a.k.a. Reverend E. X. Slave, and charged him with trespassing. It was the Reverend’s fourth arrest at the site. At least three law enforcement officers suffered burns during the incident.

In December 2001, a man drove his car across the Capital grounds and slammed into the African-American History Memorial. The intolerance of all groups in the South Carolina dispute is causing concern that the protesters could begin to use more dangerous and even deadly devices.

While the Clarion Issue has long contended that a less controversial Confederate banner could be used at Confederate memorials, the flag is flying over the monument as a result of a compromise. The Confederate flag was removed from atop the Capital and moved to the memorial site as a result of the compromise and perhaps it is time that the deal is adhered to by all concerned. The true spirit of any democracy has to be acceptance of compromises worked out by the elected representatives of the people.

We all want peace in the Middle East, but more than that I would like to see peace in my own back yard, the South. We should recognize that all ethnic groups in our nation have made important contributions to our history and culture. Also all groups have made mistakes. All groups are entitled to their monuments. If the mistakes of the past are glossed over in the name of political correctness, if the history books are not allowed to present the entire story of the American people, and if the catastrophic issues of the past are not placed in historical perspective, the possibility exists that similar errors may be repeated.

Slavery was a national disgrace. It was washed away by the blood of over half a million Americans during the Civil War. The war set to rest other issues such as states rights and nullification.

Most of the Confederate soldiers memorialized by monuments throughout the South never owned slaves. Like all men in arms they fought far from home for reasons that they could not explain. If they died, it was often alone and far from the comforts of family and friends. They also died because their leaders did not know how to compromise.

Surely we can do better. This is the 21st Century.

Humor Us Back to Top

6. When the people ask what kind of BBQ sauce was used to cook the fatted calf in
the parable of the prodigal son.

3. The feeding of the 5000 sparks a discussion of what was used as bait to catch the fish and were they catfish, bass or bream.

2. The choir robes were donated by (and embroidered with the logo from) Billy Bob’s BBQ.

1. .In a congregation of 500 members there are only 7 last names in the church directory.

A farmer was pulled over by a state trooper for speeding. Soon the state trooper started to lecture the farmer about his speed and in general, stared to throw his weight around to try to make the farmer uncomfortable. Finally the trooper began to write out the ticket, and as he was doing that, he kept swatting at some flies that were buzzing around his head.

The trooper stopped writing the ticket and said, “Well yeah, if that is what they are. I have never heard of circle flies.”

So the farmer says, “Well, circle flies are common on farms. See they’re called circle flies because they’re almost always found circling around the back end of a horse.”

The trooper says, “Oh,” and goes back to writing the ticket. Then after a minute he stops and says, “Hey, wait a minute, are you calling me a horse’s rear end?”

The farmer says, “Oh no officer. I have too much respect for the law to even think about doing that.”

The trooper replies, “Well that is a good thing”, and goes on writing the ticket.

After a long pause the farmer says, “Hard to fool them circle flies though.”

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered the ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 Billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass, and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Centigrade. The Russians used a pencil!

Grits- 1) A southern food, usually served at breakfast, made of ground corn and boiled till the correct texture is achieved. 2) A northern term used for the language spoken by southerners.

Cheezzze Grits-Fancied up grits made by combining cheese and grits during the cooking process. This delicacy is often served at high-class fish fries where the diners get to eat off paper plates rather than newspaper.

Grits Bill- 1) A southerner’s grocery bill. 2) Georgia House Bill #1297 passed in April 2002 making grits the official state processed food and Georgia the laughing stock of the United States.

Southerner: “Hey Billy Bob. Don’t ya thin’ you need mo’e water in ‘em ‘er gritzes?”
Northern visitor #1: “What did he say?”

Scoutmaster: “Any of you boz want some South Georgia Ice Cream? We got a heap of ‘em.”

Bubba: “ The ham, biscuits, and red-eye gravy was good, but Charlene’s grits were soupy.”

Skeeter: “Hey Sue Ellen, did ya hear about the Georgia Lawmakers vote’n to make grits the official state processed food?”

Sue Ellen: “Well shucks Skeeter. We been eatin’ ‘em all our lives and now we’ll be able to get ‘em at McDonald’s.”

Yankee scout leader: “Youse guys cooking grits for supper too. Didn’t you ever hear of potatoes?”

Southern scout leader: “Yea, we’ve heard of ‘em. But have you ever had to peel a grit?”

Schoolteacher: “Johnny, don’t be such a redneck. I’ll bet you were raised on catfish and grits.

Northern Restaurateur visiting the South: “Grits! I’d rather eat a handful of cornmeal!”

Web sites for real estate exist in the South, but trying to find them is not always simple. SouthernRealEstate.Com has started listing some of these real estate links and has begun email a regional email system as well. This site seeks to provide potential homebuyers and vacation homebuyers, a central location for seeing the majority of real estate web sites in the South. Although many real estate companies already have Web sites and their own email, many more do not. SouthernRealEstate.Com hopes to provide by December 2002, branded email under this name for any licensed real estate broker in the South for a reasonable annual fee of about $100 annually and by July 2003, the capability of posting listings, for a low annual fee as well. Images for listing would be faxed to a number in the South, or preferably listing images would be created with digital cameras and emailed to SouthernRealEstate.Com for posting.

In this way, any licensed real estate broker would be able to have his or her own email name at SouthernRealEstate.Com; and to have a Web presence with some current and past listings, along with their direct phone numbers and whatever identifying images they might like for their business. Southern brokers will not have to pay high fees for services they do not need and have better capacity to retain control over their local markets. At this time, persons seeking information may email accounts@southernrealestate.com and call at 212-228-9763 . Please note that SouthernRealEstate.Com is in test mode for the next few months and is subject to being down temporarily, but email should be up all the time. We look forward to hearing from you.

The General Assembly of the great and sovereign state of Georgia has adopted the southern delicacy, grits, as the official state processed food. The bill was introduced into the Ga. House by Doug Everett (R- Albany) on February 8th and passed the House on March 26th. The Grits Bill (HB-1297) then navigated the treacherous Ga. Senate passing that august body on April 10th. Ga. Governor Roy Barnes signed the bill into law shortly thereafter. Grits will now adorn the State of Ga. symbols list along with peanuts, the bob white quail, the brown thrasher, the shark’s tooth, the Cherokee Rose, and the large mouth bass.

At this time southerndomains.com offers its readers a large selection of Georgia Grits domain names including georgiagrits.com, georgiagrits.org, gagrits.com, and gagrits.net. To inquire about the entire selection of domain names available at Southern Domains contact us at sales@southerndomains.com

Georgians who hold the state’s concealed gun permits are now allowed to use the permit in the State of Montana. In a press release from the office of Georgia’s Attorney General, T.E. Baker, the Big Sky State, and the Peach State will now recognize the permits issued by the respective states.

Montana became the 10th state to reciprocate recognition of Georgia’s concealed carry permits. Other states who have met the criteria for reciprocal recognition include: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wyoming, Idaho, Indiana, and New Hampshire.

Former Haitian General, Jean-Claude Duperval, has been identified in Florida after six years of exile. The Walt Disney Corporation employed the former general from 1997 until April 12th of this year. The Disney Corp. indicated that they were unaware of the former general’s past when he was hired.

General Duperval has been accused of participation in the Raboteau massacre on April 22, 1994. At that time Haiti was led by Raul Cedras. Duperval was also suspected to have participated in other massacres, torture, and human rights violations in Haiti at the time. The Cedras regime fell in September 1994, and Duperval fled the country with his family. The Haitian courts have indicted Duperval and ordered his arrest.

Duprreview is one of about 200 known torturers living in exile in Florida. At this time he has not been deported back to Haiti. It is unclear whether Duperval and other torturer-killers living in Florida plan to open a new park with torture and mass murder as the major theme.

A new memorial in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has honored the American service men that were terribly mistreated by the Japanese after the American surrender in the Philippines in 1942. The memorial contains several six-foot columns with the names of the men from New Mexico who fought in the Battles of Corregidor and Bataan during the darkest days of World War II. The memorial was unveiled on April 7th and contained 1,817 names. Over half of the New Mexicans who were in the battles survived at battles and captivity that followed.

The Americans in the Philippines, who called themselves the “Battling Bastards of Bataan”, fought a heroic battle against overwhelming odds during the opening months of World War II. Eventually running out of food, medicine, and ammunition, they surrendered to Japanese forces and were forced to march 60 to 70 miles to prison camps with out food, water, or rest. Many were shot or bayoneted on the “Death March” by their Japanese captors. Of the 70,000 American and Filipino prisoners taken into captivity in 1942, over 21,000 died of starvation, over work, exposure, mistreatment, and poor medical care over the next three years. The American forces under General Douglas MacArthur liberated the POWs in 1945.

When asked about the possible inhumanity of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II, many World War II veterans indicated the Japanese deserved every electron they got.

The United States Army convened a court-martial in Mannheim, Germany, on April 1st accusing Specialist Lillie Morgan of drowning her two children. Morgan admitted killing the two children, 3-year old Joshua and 2-month old Jazmin, on the witness stand on April 4th and was found guilty of the double murder on April 11th.

Morgan, a native of Marksville, La., killed her children to punish her husband, Spencer Morgan, himself a former American serviceman, of a suspected affair. Morgan drowned the children in the bathtub on September 18, 2001.

In defense of Morgan, the defense offered testimony of a dysfunctional home life as a child and teenager, sexual abuse, an attempted suicide as a teenager in a foster home, and the possibility of mental illness as an adult.

Judge Lt. Col. Stephen Henley sentenced Morgan to life in prison for the murders. Morgan will also be busted back to private and receive a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Army. She will be eligible for parole in 20 years.

The father of a 13-year old girl, Bill Kerr of Berkley, California, was placed under arrest and charged with two counts of assault and battery for attacking the boyfriend of his daughter and the boyfriend of her sleepover guest. The boys were found hidden in the closet of his daughter’s bedroom at 4:00 a.m.

The girls had attended a party earlier that evening and arrived at the Kerr home around eleven. The boys, aged 14, had attended the same party. The boys entered the home through a window in the girl’s bedroom around three. The father had been awakened by a noise and attacked the boys before he realized who they were.

Kerr turned himself in and was booked on the charges. Kerr has two past felonies, which could have contributed to the complexity of the case. Kerr did not hit the second boy, the boyfriend of his daughter, and did stop the assault when he recognized the intruder. The charges were dropped about a week later.

The Clarion Issue contends that the assault was not premeditated and that Mr. Kerr should never have been charged. Kerr did state after the fact that he was glad he did not have a gun during the incident.

A recent move by the Chimpanzee Collaboratory has initiated a major response from various animal rights groups. The Chimpanzee Collaboratory’s stated goal is to allow chimps to sue in the United States courts. Several million dollars has already been raised to achieve the stated goal.

The Chimpanzee Collaboratory is a group of animal friendly researchers and animal rights activists. The group contends that chimps are able to communicate on a level with a three-year-old child, who in the United States has legal rights. According to Steven Wise, the author of Rattling the Cage, “If a human four-year-old has what it takes for legal personhood, then a chimpanzee should be able to be a legal person in terms of legal rights”. Of course adults protect the children’s legal rights and animal protection groups would be needed to supervise the chimps’ legal rights.

The National Association for Biomedical Research has led opposition to the chimpanzee’s legal rights motion. The fear of many groups on the opposite side of the issue is that the granting of such right to chimps would lead to bestowing of rights to a host of other animals.

So far the largest donation to the Chimpanzee’s war chest has come from Rob Glaser’s RealNetworks computer software company. The Chimpanzee Collaboratory has yet to announce when the first test case involving a chimpanzee’s constitutional right to sue in the United States courts will be initiated.

Many questions remain. Would chimps be allowed to serve on a jury evoking the “jury of one’s peers” clause in the Bill of Rights? Would a quota be established at law schools to train chimp attorneys? When will the chimps cast their first ballots? Surely the second “Monkey Trial” will be as popular and hysterical as the first one held in Tennessee in 1925.

Perhaps it would help if all concerned remembered the words of that famous wise man, the world famous Hindu Sat-Guru Hoodoo Voodoo Guru, when he said, “Smart monkeys don’t monkey in other monkey’s monkey business.”

Parents and students at Rancho Berando High School in San Diego, California, are upset at the school’s administration for an incident at a school dance held on April 26th 2002.

The administration, including vice-principal Rita Wilson, reportedly asked female students entering the school’s Morp (prom spelled backwards) dance if they had on ‘appropriate’ underwear and bras. Students that were suspected of not wearing ‘appropriate’ undergarments were subjected to on the spot inspection of their undergarments in front of male faculty, policemen, and fellow students. School officials were searching for inappropriate thong underwear and bra less students. While the school’s dress code did not refer to underwear of any type, the administration ordered the young ladies to lift up their dresses in order to look for the contraband thongs. Young men wearing togas were also subjected to underwear inspections.

The administration was attempting to head off incidents similar to those at earlier dances where young ladies had removed their underwear and flashed the other dancers or flashed other students while wearing thong undergarments.

Many of the young ladies who underwent the search broke into tears when they told their parents about the incident. One parent, Kim Teal a local attorney, indicated that the girls involved in the search felt violated. Several parents have demanded that the vice-principal and others involved in the incident be disciplined.

The school district has suspended Wilson pending a full investigation of the thong incident

Pim Fortuyn, the leader of a “right wing” Dutch political party, was assassinated on May 6th after an interview. Fortuyn was expected to lead the newly formed anti-immigration party, Livable Netherlands, to a respectable showing in the national elections in mid-May. Fortuyn’s party had won about one-third of the votes in the local elections in Rotterdam, the Netherlands second largest city, in March.

The Livable Netherlands’ platform and rhetoric center on the immigration of Moslem peoples into the Netherlands and the possibility of the conservative Islamic influences overturning the Dutch way of life. Today the Turkish and Moroccan populations make up about 45% of the 9% of other ethnic peoples in the Netherlands.

Fortuyn’s party was expected to gain enough seats in the Dutch Parliament to influence the formation of a coalition government and various government policies. While the Livable Netherlands party was considered right wing due to its stand on immigration, the party was fairly liberal on several issues. Fortuyn lived an openly gay lifestyle and favored the Netherlands’ liberal monetary, social, and open drug policies.

Fortuyn had expressed concern about his safety and had requested police protection due to numerous death threats. His assassination was the first modern political assassination in Netherlands’ history. He was shot six times in the head and throat, and he died on the spot.

Nobel Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest by the military junta ruling the Myanmar Republic on May 6th. She had been under arrest for 19 months in her home in Burma.

Mrs. Suu Kyi is the leader of the pro-democracy party known as the National League for Democracy (NLD). While many of the leaders of the NLD still languish in Burmese jails and prisons, the NLD and the U.S. government are seeing the move as a positive step.

While President Bush praised the release of Suu Kyi the American government indicated that trade and monetary sanctions will remain in place until the military junta ruling Myanmar release the other political prisoners being held in Burma.

Two policemen in Calcutta, India, were suspended in early April after a truck driver accused one of the policemen of biting him. The incident occurred when the two police officers stopped the truck driver and demanded that the driver pay a bribe to avoid a ticket, a common occurrence with the underpaid policemen in India. The truck driver refused, and a scuffle ensued in which the truck driver’s hand was bitten. Both of the policemen were suspended and the incident is under investigation according to Harman Prit Singh, Deputy Commissioner of the Calcutta Police.

The citizens of Tainan, Taipei, will have an extra chance to learn English later this year as garbage trucks in the south Taiwan city begin to broadcast English lessons. The lessons will be transmitted through loud speakers on trucks as they go through the city and pick up the trash. According to Tainan’s Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair, it is a great opportunity for everyone to begin to learn basic conversational English. The idea for the project came from Hsu’s wife.

Tainan officials did not say when the phrase “You should’a used a Hefty,” or “Do you have a twist tie” will be introduced to the Tainan public.

In Narayanganj, Bangladesh, a snake charmer was called in to find and dispose of two cobras found in the backyard of Mantu Kasai. The snake charmer, Dudu Miah, began searching for the cobras’ nest and uncovered 3,500 cobras under the floorboards of two houses.

Miah captured the snakes but disclosed that he did not quite know what to do with all the venomous reptiles. Miah, who obviously does not suffer from ophidophobia, indicated that he would search the area for more snakes when time permitted.

In the meantime the Clarion Issue recommends the Kasai family visit the local humane society and adopt a pet mongoose or two.

It is not a new safety precaution to prevent a terrorist attack at the nation’s second oldest ballpark. It is not a test for drunk drivers leaving the “friendly confines” by the Chicago Police Department. It is an attempt by the Cubs management to curtail the fans from viewing the games from the rooftops and apartments across the street from Wrigley Field.

The tradition began years ago when fans viewed the games from the rooftops and open windows, and it continues to this day adding quaintness and charm to the old stadium, which only seats 39,111 fans. The roof top fans of old brought grills for hot dogs and hamburgers and coolers of beer and viewed the games the way spectators of old viewed baseball games before baseball became a big business concerned with the bottom line.

Opening day at Wrigley Field revealed green-black screening hanging on the outfield fences to obscure the view from the buildings. The Cubs also planned to put up Helium balloons to further block the sight lines from the rooftops, but they have not implemented phase two of operation obstruction as of this date. Most of the fans that have viewed a game through the screens indicate that they are not really a problem at this time.

The owners of the rooftops now charge between 60 to 100 dollars for a ticket. A rooftop space for an office party, family reunion, or private party goes for as much as 6,000 dollars. The novelty and nostalgia of seeing a Cubs game from a rooftop will now set you back a C-note or two. The Cubs consider this a tremendous loss of revenue. Loss of revenue or not, this cost is a real divergence from a picnic lunch at the ball field to watch the Laweranceville Mugwamps play the Carterstown Ravens or the big game between the local VFW and the JCs. These games featured free admission and plenty of ants for the spectators.

There is much discussion in the Chicago neighborhood concerning the Cubs desire to expand Wrigley Field and local resistance to the plan. Regardless of the Cubs rationale behind the screens, it is a blight on the game of baseball. With attendance expected to be exceptional as the Cubs contend for the National League pennant and the Cubs media contract with WGN, the Cubs should be in as good an economic shape as any major league team.

At a time when both critics and fans of the game of baseball consider management and players more concerned with financial gain than the integrity of the game, the screens are seen as an example of greed and stupidity. The screens seem to make as much sense as the attempt to downsize baseball over the winter.

It is said that shortly before he was assassinated, President Lincoln called in General Abner Doubleday, the man credited with inventing baseball, and urged him not to let the game die. I wonder what Ol’ Abe and Abner would say about the screens at Wrigley Field?

Former President Jimmy Carter’s recent trip to Cuba would not have been complete without a trip to a Cuban baseball game. After his historic speech to the Cuban people in which Carter criticized both the U.S. embargo on Cuban trade and Cuba’s lack of free press and elections, Carter, and former Cuban baseball star Fidel Castro visited a Cuban ballpark and took in a game.

Prior to becoming an unwashed revolutionary and sometimes-washed dictator, Castro was a fairly good baseball player with major league potential. However, before allowing Carter to throw out the first pitch, the former Cuban star had to give Jimmy a few pointers on how to pitch a baseball.

The world has to wonder what history would be like if Castro had become a Yankee, Brave, Cub, or Red Sock. The world would have been spared the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Elian Gonzales episode, explosive seashells planted by the CIA, and thousands of Castro’s useless and pointless speeches. Of course had Jimmy Carter been able to throw a few curves in 1980, the United States may have been spared the Reagan administration.

The Iditarod Race in Alaska commemorates a run to deliver a serum to fight what disease?