Free Speech 03/31/10

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To the person who commented on Fayette County and the “more diverse” community potentially having something to do with an increase in crime: I just have one question. Do you teach your children to be racist, too? How awful.

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Direct correlation between “more diverse” racial makeup in Fayette Country and increase in crime? Are you kidding me? It’s as plain as the noses on our faces. No whiney talk needed about cultural background and lack of opportunities, blah, blah, blah. Of course there is a direct correlation. Facts and statistics speak the truth. Newsflash: right is right and wrong is wrong. And those doing wrong know it.

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Obviously the person who ranted about gays and the military is an ignorant homophobe. I know some kick-a** military gays and, yes, they defend our country. Even for that one.

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A very minor request for The Citizen: Kindly refrain from consistently misusing the word “suspect.” By definition, a “suspect” is someone “suspected” of committing a crime. When referring to the person who is actually committing a crime, the proper word would be “culprit.” Here are exact quotes from some of your articles: “… One of the suspects grabbed her purse.” “One of the suspects pulled a pistol on the employee …” “… A lone suspect entered the store and demanded money from a cashier.” “… The suspects stole an undetermined amount of cash, lottery tickets and tobacco products.” In each of these examples, you are clearly writing about people who actually committed various crimes and not people who are merely suspected of committed them. I hope that this clearly demonstrates how you’ve misused this word and should have used the word “culprit” in each instance. Kindly use proper English that is befitting of a professional journalist such as yourself.

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For the person who thinks veterinarians care more about money than your pet: Really? Seems to me that people like you who are “working so hard just to keep their homes and vehicles, and even jobs, in these horrific economic times” would understand that if you can’t afford pet care then maybe you shouldn’t have a pet. Like kids, they cost money to care for them properly. Oh that’s right, you think you should have free pet care. Goes right along with the entitlement mentality of a lot of people. Grow up!

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Disgusted with veterinarians because they won’t treat Fido and Fluffy for free? This is a perfect example of the entitlement mentality that has bankrupted America. It is perfectly understandable, after all, our government has spoiled the non-producing populace for decades by paying for whatever people can’t afford. Want kids you can’t afford? Don’t worry, the government will bail you out. Want a house or car you can’t afford? Don’t worry, the government will bail you out. Get anything you want, the government will bail you out. Want common sense? Forget it, the government is out of stock and can’t even backorder. It’s reality check time. The government is broke. The FDIC is billions in the red. Nearly 800 banks are on the endangered list. China is ready to call in our astronomical debt which we can’t pay. And most veterinarians are not going to borrow $100,000 in student loans and spend years in school so they can treat your animals, which you can’t afford, for free. There are some tough decisions to be made by all. This is as good a place as any to start.

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In response to the person that made the comment about the jail food, try the Fayette Senior Services. The health inspection grades for their kitchen has been 100 for the last five times And the food is wonderful. The only problem is that they only have lunch. It is $6 plus tax. You can visit once, then you have to join, but that is only $20 per year. You can’t get a better deal than that.

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The Fayette County community needs many things but the one thing we do not need is public transportation and the carry-on baggage that comes with it. If public transportation is included in Commissioner Jack Smith’s vision for the future of Fayette County, maybe we should re-think the future of Commissioner Smith.

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When I moved to Fayetteville 20 years ago. I was going to retire here, But now I see it is doomed to suffer the same fate as College Park and East Point. It’s time to move.

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The new school superintendent needs to come from outside the county and they can find a great person for $125,000 a year. Promoting from within will be a disaster and will continue the havoc. Let’s just be blunt: the entire school board and administration needs an overhaul. If businesses were run like our school district, the businesses would be out of business. Don’t get it wrong, vote for change of command, go to the the state of New York as they have the strongest administrators and they believe in their teachers. Our district is in a position to make a positive move, to forward ourselves in a new direction, so let’s hope they make the right choice and they don’t “fail forward.”

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Hey, school board, how about investigating the cars with Fulton and Clayton county tags dropping kids at Spring Hill Elementary School. Is there somewhere we can call to report their tag numbers?

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It is hard to take the FCBOE seriously when they complain about lack of funding. They have eighth-graders at Rising Starr Middle School coloring butterflies to teach them about the Holocaust. While it is a nice thought to have butterflies in remembrance of victims, I have to wonder how much 13- and 14-year-old kids are learning of this terrible event with this exercise. Sending a team of eighth-graders home with 16 sheets of paper and telling them to COLOR the two butterflies on each page and then cut them out is not conducive to learning about a horrible event. Like my kid said, ”I thought when I got out of elementary school I was finished coloring.” Stop wasting resources, students’ and parents’ time and start teaching them facts. Coloring butterflies! Eighth grade! Ridiculous!

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I want to let the FCBOE how inconvenient they have made kindergarten registration this year. Now, we have to take two days out of our busy schedule to go register our children. First, we have to drive to the Welcome Center by Fayette County High School one day to fill out paperwork. Then, we have to call the school to schedule an appointment for the kindergarten assessments for another day. The previous system where everything was done at the school at one time was much more pleasant and organized. I have several friends that have not registered their kids yet because it is not convenient. How do you think this is better as far as keeping up with the numbers?

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I don’t think that our local state Superintendent Kathy Cox is being a good role model for our kids while she rides around PTC talking on her cell phone. She almost changed lanes into me on Hwy. 54 as she was chatting away. At least it was a good opportunity to show my 15-year old daughter, who has her driver’s permit, how not to drive.

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News flash: I saw someone actually using one of the new “crosswalks to nowhere”! Disregard, it was just one of the installers testing the lights.

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Here is something for Don Haddix to ponder on: Do what all of the other cities in this country are doing — cut city employees’ pay, reduce all of the fat in all departments, stop thinking about granting raises, hire a city manager who will manage and not be managed. And I suggest you read some basic management books,or find a tutor who will teach you the basics of management, instead of raising taxes. I am so sorry that I talked a number of my neighbors into voting for Haddix. P.S. About the shortfall in the Recreation Department — let the parents whose kids use the rec department pay a user fee.

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To the 88 percent of households in PTC who couldn’t be bothered to complete the citizen survey, shame, shame on you. Your insistence in not participating in this very simple means of communicating with our mayor and council about issues that affect all of us is you effectively losing any rights to complain, moan, whine, despair or argue about any tax increases or use of surplus money for the next 12 months. And yes, the 12 percent who did complete them get to speak for the majority. Too bad for you.

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To all of the writers complaining about Barnes and Noble closing: just look in the mirror. To the legions of moochers who enjoyed the cushy chairs, the comfortable air conditioning while reading and wrinkling a half dozen books and magazines and not buying as much as a cup of coffee: who did you think was going to pay the rent, the Easter Bunny? This is a business, not the public library.

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It’s time our local public servants in the law enforcement division stopped operating as revenue collecting agent and started acting like law enforcement officers. It is obvious that all they do is lurk around trying to trap some unsuspecting citizen trying to get to work on time or home for his dinner after a long day of hard work, so they can extort him out of some of his hard-earned money. This morning after dropping my high school kid off at his bus stop I pulled back onto Hwy. 54 just before daylight and was almost broadsided by some idiot driving 70 miles per hour in the left lane with no lights. If he had lights, as the law requires, and was driving in the right lane, as the law requires, that near accident would not have happened. Where is the “law” when you need them? We have no real law enforcement, just a bunch of hooligans who are looking for someone to fleece or if possible to molest and call it law enforcement. Makes me sick as a retired law enforcement officer myself.

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All taxpaying citizens of Fayette County should be in an uproar over the use of SPLOST funds to repave Redwine Road. If you’ve driven on the new section, you know what a horrible job the contractor did. We should be very upset if the county paid the contractor for this shabby work. It is by far the worst paving job I’ve seen in my 40 years of driving. The whole road project was questionable to begin with. I use Redwine every day and don’t remember it being an issue at all. Yet, Fayette County, using SPLOST funds, decided to not only to repave it, but to dig up the old road and re-grade the entire surface of phase 1, basically building an entire new road from Hwy. 74 to HighGrove, a cost of hundreds of thousands. Did we really need to spend this money now? And why is it that the Woodcreek subdivision was repaved at the same time? Did SPLOST pay for that, too? Whoever authorized that payment should be fired immediately, and we should all demand tax refunds next year.

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Help me understand why we are spending our tax dollars to line up McBride Road at Antioch when there is not enough traffic that comes through there to even do such a thing right now. Why not spend that money and line up Inman Road and Goza Road at Hwy. 92 where it’s extremely obvious that there is much more traffic at that intersection with the school being located right there and with many more schoolbuses traveling in and out of there. Here’s a thought: when there is money available, then by all means do that which needs to be done first.

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Why would anyone have a dog if they keep it chained up all the time? Someone should chain those people up for a day and see how they like it. Can you imagine how cold those poor animals get on those cold winter nights. What have our County Commissioners done to outlawing this cruel treatment?