P'A(G 4A **. .- --. ----r--. -


 Hamilton County Chamber of
 Commerce, Inc. cordially invites you
 to a Ribbon Cutting at Noon on Friday,
 February 9, 2007 at the law office
 of Ralph Deas, 306 NE First Street,
 Jasper, FL 32052


Democratic meeting to

be held at Feb. 12
 The Hamilton County Democratic Executive Commit-
tee will meet on Monday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Jasper
Public Library. Refreshments will be provided. All inter-
ested Democrats are invited to attend.

Soil and Water Conservation

District Speech Contest


 The Association of Flori-
da Conservation Districts
(AFCD) provides opportu-
nities for youth grades
sixth through twelfth
grades to polish their pub-
lic speaking skills through
an annual contest. The
Hamilton County Soil and
Water Conservation Dis-
trict sponsors the local
contest, which is sched-
uled for Thursday, Feb. 22,


at 4 p.m. at the Hamilton
County Extension Com-
plex.
 The theme this year se-
lected by the AFCD is
"What Are the Effects of
the Real Estate Boom on
Florida Agriculture?"
 Information and rules
may be obtained by calling
the Suwannee County
Conservation District Of-
fice at 386-362-2622, ext. 3.


Published weekly every Thursday. USPS #755-980
 Office located at 105 NE 2nd Avenue,
 Bank of America, Jasper, FL 32052
Phone (386) 792-2487 FAX (386) 792-3009
 E-mail address: jaspemewsl@alltel.net
Myra Regan ........................... Publisher
Melody Lee .. . . . . . .Manager
Matthew Morgan .................... ..Advertising
Angela Grantham ..........Administrative Assistant
 Periodicals postage paid at Jasper, FL.
 Annual subscription rate is $16 in county,
 $23 out of county and out of state.
 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
 The Jasper News, 105 NE 2nd Ave., Jasper, FL 32052

 Letter to the Editor and Article Policy
 Letters to the Editor and news articles can be mailed, FAXed
 or dropped off at the news office located in the Bank of Amer-
 ica Building,'Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. till 5 p.m.
 Letters to the Editor should be typed, double-spaced if pos-
 sible, brief and to the point, approximately 150 to 200 words or,
 less. Not all letters are published. To be considered for publi-
 cation Letters to the Editor must be signed, include the
 writer's address and phone number, and in the Jasper News'
 office on Friday before 5 p.m.
 News Releases, 400 or less words, should be typed, double-
 spaced if possible, brief and to the point. Not all articles are
 published.
 Letters and articles may be edited to fit available space. Well
 written letters/ articles require less editing.
 To mail your letter/ article, send it to: The Jasper News, 105
 NE 2nd Ave., Jasper, FL 32052 or FAX it to: 792-3009.


Relay For Life news Medical assistance
 = _I II


 The Hamilton County Relay For Life will begin at 6 p.m.
on Friday, March 16, with the Survivors' Lap and last
through the night until Saturday morning. The Relay will be
held at the old high school football field, located at 1153 NW
US 41 in Jasper.
 Deadline If you register your team by Friday, Feb. 23,
each team member will receive a Hamilton County Relay For
Life T-shirt. You may still register after the deadline, but you
may not receive your T-shirts until after the Relay.
 Welcome new teams Dr. Ben Norris and staff, Harvest
Fellowship Church and City of Jasper.
 Next meeting 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 1, at Jasper
First United Church located at 405 SW Central Ave. in Jasper.
, Bank Night The date has been changed to Monday,
March 12, at 5:30, at the Church. Bring your money and pick
up your T-shirts.
 Calling all cancer survivors Contact Penny Mickldder at
792-3745 to register r the Survivors' Reception in the cafe-
teria at Central Hamilton Elementary. The Reception will be
held immediately after the Survivor's Lap.
 Entertainers wanted All churches, dubs, organizations,
or individuals are invited to perform during the Relay. Con-
tact Penny Mickler at 792-3745 to schedule a time or for more
information.


I


 A

MINORITY

 VIEW


 2006 Creators Syndicate
BY WALTER WILLIAMS


World Poverty

If you're looking for a map
of world poverty, check out
the "2007 Index of Econom-
ic Freedom" jointly pub-
lished by the Heritage
Foundation and The Wall
Street Journal. You might
think that's a strangely ti-
tled source for a poverty
map.
 The 13th edition of the
"Index of Economic Free-
dom" examines 10 econom-
ic characteristics of 157
countries. Among those
characteristics are property
rights, monetary stability,
and freedom from govern-
ment, trade restrictions,
business regulations and
government corruption.
Using these measures of
economic freedom, coun-
tries are ranked.
 Hong Kong and Singa-.
 pore, as they have for 13
 years, rank as the world's
 two economically freest
 countries, with freedom
 scores of 89 and 86 percent
 free. Rounding out the top
 10 most free economies are


Australia (83), United
States (82), New Zealand
(82), United Kingdom (82),
Ireland (81), Luxembourg
(79), Switzerland (79) and
Canada (79).
 At the other end of the
list are the least free coun-
tries. Ranking 157th, North
Korea, with a freedom
score of 3 percent, is the
world's least free country.
Ranking 156th is Cuba, 30
percent free, and in ascend-
ing order are: Libya (34)
Zimbabwe (36), Burma
(40), Turkmenistan (42),
Congo (43), Iran (43), An-
gola (43), and Guinea-Bas-
sau (45).
 The "2007 Index of Eco-
 nomic Freedom" displays a
 color-coded map showing
 countries that are free,
 mostly free, moderately
 free, mostly unfree and re-
 pressed. Guess where one
 finds the world's most mis-
 erably poor people? If you
 guessed the mostly unfree
 and repressed countries,
 you guessed correctly.
 Some people claim that
 some countries are rich be-
 cause of abundant natural
 resources. That's nonsense!
 Africa and South America
 are probably the richest


grants now available


 Parents and caretakers
across the country can ap-
ply for grants of up to
$5,000 for health care ser-
vices that will help .improve
their children's health and
quality of life. The United-
Healthcare Children's
Foundation (UHCCF) will
cover medical services such
as speech therapy, physical
therapy and psychotherapy
sessions; medical equip-
ment such as wheelchairs,
braces, hearing aids and
eyeglasses; and orthodontia
and dental treatments.
 To be eligible for UHCCF
grants, children must be 16
years of age or younger.
Families must meet ecd-


continents in natural re-
sources, but are home to
some of the world's poorest
people. By contrast, coun-
tries like England, Japan
and Hong Kong are poor in
natural resources, but their
people are among the
world's wealthiest. Hong
Kong even has to import its
food and water. Some peo-
ple use the history of colo-
nialism as an excuse for
poverty. That's also non-
sense. The United States
was a colony. So were
Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and Hong Kong,
but they're rich countries.
 The reason some coun-,
tries are rich while others
are poor is best explained
by the amount of economic
freedom its peoples enjoy
and the extent of govern-
ment control over econom-
ic matters. Don't make the
mistake of equating eco-
nomic freedom with
democracy. After all, India,
politically, is a democracy,
but economically it is most-
ly unfree and poor, ranking
104th in economic freedom.
There are countries on the
econonuc treedom'n mde\'
that do not have much of a
history of democracy, such
as Chile, ranking 11th, and
Taiwan, 26th, and yet these
countries are far wealthier
than some of their more de-
mocratic counterparts.
Why? It's because their eco-
nomic systems are free or
mostly free, which is not
guaranteed by a democrat-
ic political system.
 The economic develop-
 ment lesson is clear: Have a


nomic guidelines, reside in
the United States and be
covered by a commercial
health insurance plan.
 The UHCCF is a public
charity that operates inde-
pendently from United-
Healthcare with its own
board of directors. While
UHCCF continues to be
supported principally by
UnitedHealth Group and
its employees, it also looks
for individual and corpo-
rate donations to help pro-
vide assistance. Donors can
designate funds to be used
in the region where they re-
side; otherwise unspecified
donations are divided
equally among the regions.


system of economic free-
dom and grow rich. Exten-
sive government control,
weak property rights and
government corruption al-
most guarantee poverty. A
country's institutional in-
frastructure is critical to its
economic" growth and the
well-being of' its citizens.
The most critical are pro-
tection of private property,
enforcement of contracts
and rule of law.
 To help our fellow man
around the world, we must
convince him to create the
institutional infrastructure
for wealth creation. Foreign
aid, International Monetary
Fund bailouts and other
handouts are not substi-
tutes. They just make polit-
ical survival possible for
the elite whose self-serving
policies keep a nation poor.
Except for immediate dis-
aster relief, foreign aid is
probably the worst thing
the West can do for poor
countries. After all, how
much foreign aid is neces-
sary for a country to create
the foundations for growth:
rule of law, enforcement of
contracts and private prop-
erty rights protection?
 Walter E. Williams is a
 professor of economics at
 George Mason University.
 To find out more about
 Walter E. Williams and
 read features by other Cre-
 ators Syndicate writers and
 cartoonists, visit the Cre-
 ators Syndicate Web page
 at www.creators.com.
 COPYRIGHT 2007 CRE-
 ATORS SYNDICATE, INC.


Doll collection on display


for Black History Month

 Stop by the Hamilton County Courthouse Annex to see a collection of dolls portray-
ing real-life people and imaginary characters that are on display during February in
recognition of Black History Month. Register to win a doll, Bubby, that was donated by
Bobbie and Dana Hunnicutt of Jasper, who own the collection. The drawing will be held
at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 28.


331558-F


II _


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2007


THE JASER NEWS Jasoer FL


MA fl AA