Celebrating the

Fourth of July is not optional, you know.

Where

does a 500-lb. canary put a runway?

Editor-at-large

Have you noticed

the deafening silence of the Sierra Club and the federal Environmental

Protection Agency concerning Hartsfield Airport's fifth runway?

Memories

of a friend who died young

One

Citizen's Perspective

When the parents

of one of my closest college friends asked me to write down some things

that I remembered about their daughter, I was honored to be asked, but

found myself suddenly without words. How do you describe a friendship

that spanned 12 years to parents who desperately want to know their

daughter a little better?

Feel

superior: See 'Annie'

MURPHY

Laugh Lines

Of all the songs

that make me think of the current human condition in America, it's "A

Hard Knock Life." Well, maybe not, but this is my second all-time

favorite showtune behind "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

God

and the 4th: Listen to our Founding Fathers

In recent days we

have heard a lot about religious liberty issues. For example, the ACLU

recently filed a federal lawsuit demanding that a Ten Commandments monument

be removed from the lawn of a county courthouse. There are other issues

in the courts concerning Bible clubs on campus, student-led prayer at

graduations, and removing "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency.

Fayette's

zoning laws subjective, arbitrary, confiscatory; what about rights?

I am sick and tired

of hearing about Fayette County zoning from Bob Craft and his like.

Consider the following.

Dissent

is American way

Bill Aleshire's

letter derided Steve Brown for not finding positive things about "the

members of the governing body of this country and great city."

He better get his shots in before it is Mayor Brown and Mr. Aleshire

finds himself guilty of the same "atrocity."

Mayoral

candidate Wellman: Raise tone of debate

I wanted to take

this opportunity to wish my fellow citizens a happy and safe Independence

Day holiday. Since I announced my candidacy for mayor of Peachtree City

two weeks ago it has been both exciting and humbling to meet so many

nice people who support my candidacy, or who don't, but are willing

at least to talk to me and tell me their concerns.

lament against the thieves of the night . . .

The Thieves of the

Night

Maybe

we need 'Lawyer's Day' to celebrate attorneys

I read the letter

from Mr. Claude Paquin [The Citizen Letters, June 27] and had a hard

time keeping down my breakfast.

Want

to stop tree cutting? Then pay us for the trees

So, [Fayette County

Planning Commissioner] Fred Bowen thinks it's OK to tell property owners

that trees can't be cut within 25, or maybe even 50 feet of our property

lines because, "Fayette County is not a farming community."

'AI'

raises some uncomfortable issues

I thought "AI"

was a mind-blowing social commentary. It used the most advanced computer-generated

effects to say humans contain boundless evil, but could evolve robots

to embody their highest ideals and redeem their legacy. It was a warning,

and it was great. It was also disturbing.

Reporter

put spin on power plant story

[Re: "Will

proposed power plant pollut Fayette?" The Citizen, June 27]. My

impression was that the reporter doesn't like power plants, and that

all he had to do was to quote what others of like mind stated, especially

[Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg] Dunn.

We

need a strong patient's bill of rights now

Back in 1988, fresh

from Germany and a few days into my pediatric residency at Rhode Island

Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, I converged with dozens of other

residents to the benefits office to select a health insurance plan,

one of three offered by my employer.

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