Thursday, March 5, 2009 www. dcadvocate.net Viewpoints The Dixie County Advocate 174 NE 351 Hwy. P.O. Box 5030* Cross City, FL 32628 Ph. 352-498-3312 Fax (352)498-0420 PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS Letters to the Editor, Ads Editdordcadvocate.net News News(ldcadvocate.net $24.99 .........................In Dixie County $29.99 ................................Elsewhere Includes Tax OFFICIAL ORGAN of DIXIE COUNTY Katherine McKinney.........................Editor Eli Loy..........................Production Manager * Brandi Barber.;..................Receptionist/UPS, David Rymahn............Webmaster "*Anigel Lee.......... .,.................. Reporter John Kelley.......... Football Reporter SThe Dixie County Advocate is owned by LSAMedia,.LLC, of Dixie County Deadline for news and announcements Is 5:00 p.m., on Monday Deadline for advertising and classified ads is 12:00 Noon on Tuesday Classified ads are $5 00 for 20 words or . .less; .10 cents additional word Classified ads are payable in advance Please mail ad with check to the above address. Reproduction by commercial interests or for resale or distribution, in whole or in part, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher Let- ters to the Editor Policy. In order to provide an open forum on issues and concerns to our readers, we publish (space permitting) every letter that we receive that is signed by the writer. Unsigned and anonymous letters that are inflammatory. slanderous, or libelous, and letters promoting a commercial enterprise are not published. The Advocate reserves the right to edit all submissions. Committed to Accuracy: Errors of Fact appearing in news columns will be corrected if the error substantially affects the information 'contained there- in. Call, e-mail or write the Editor to report Erfors of Fact. STHEDIXIE COUNTY ADVOCATE-(USPS 158-760) is published weekly SEvery Week without Fail, Since July 1, 1921 S,2009 Dixie County Advocate Handling pirates with Kidd gloves ,- .. Lately, I've been hearing a lot about pirates plying their trade in the waters near places like the Persian- Gulf and Southeast Asia. There seem to be a lot of unsavory types going in for that line of work these. days. I don't know why; maybe it's get- ting too hard to pull off a successful bank heist or too much' competition in the international drug wars; but for whatever reason, lawbreakers seem to be taking to the high seas in in- ,creasing numbers. Naturally, the people who own the'ships that are being hi- jacked are not going to sit around pretending it's not happen- "^ ing, e specially since the pirates are taking passengers and crews rishner,"h6ldig th'f i'~8r ransom', killing a fe\~ "''' them just for kicks, and of course selling off any merchandise found aboard to anyone in the business of receiving stolen goods, such types being plentiful on the land masses adjacent to the pillaging pirates' waters of preference. Concern among shipping interests having mounted, means are now being undertaken to deal with the problem of vile, S well-armed, bloodthirsty pirates victimizing everything from cruise ships to tankers to commercial fishing vessels. Dealing with these types obviously would be no easyntask, so the deci- sion was made'to seek the help of a category of individuals uniquely qualified to confront these malefactors. If you're thinking the US Marines.. Ihave no doubt they could get the job done, but they weren't even asked. Or maybe "privateers." those free-lance soldiers of for- tune of the sort who put the pirates out of busi- ness well over a century ago. No, there could be no permitting "mercenaries" to engage the pirates, even if it might clear up the problem, anymore than we could allow our military to become involved. o This was ajob for the educational community!. Let me preface any further comments by stating that I do not S believe merchant seamen are a bunch of .sissies.They have served honorably In combat zones in prey ious war. However S will say that the colleges that are teaching the current genbr- ation of seamen look like they're try ing to establish ships' crews made up of pacifists, which might be OK for purposes .of dealing ith intoxicated tourists, but not when one is like- ly to be confronted by well-armed pirates bent on doing you bodily harm or worse. The best way of dealing with pirates, as being taught today' is evasion. If you've got a faster boat, make a full-throttle effort to leave them in your wake. They will then prey on a slower vessel, but so what? You'11be safe--at least until another band, of brigands show up in a faster boat. Another recommended tactic is "hosing." I knw, the term has-a variety of meanings, but in this case it means quirting 'pirates with high-pressure hoses as they're attempting to board your ship. Hey, that high-pressure hose will really.scare the hell out of some cut-throat with an AKt47, won't it? A novel idea,' what would be wrong with equipping crew mem- bers with firearms and mounting small cannon on the decks? I understand, some countries don't want merchant vessels to be armed when in their territorial 'waters, but so what? If they want the 1lad of constimer goods or,the free-spending tourists you're hauling, they can take their choice: Let you in port with your guns, or do without. Some critics are even suggesting that armed crews might mutiny but a decent pay scale with bonuses for terminating pirates ought to solve that problem. The infamous Captain Kidd wouldhave gotten quite laugh out of governments dealing with pirates in this fashion: If not for the fact that he'd le 364 years old, he'd still be in business. !e.'dit "*,ple em it to etli ,ar 0. P o. B ,ai Cr ityQ 3tyD3 m. $k., ,10,RI '. FNr c mons difritb vma dedyimstdnMKde YrmisdtMo i Mo- Viva La Revolucion! y Kathy McKinney Ruth had style, and he knew how to live. He went home -k every day like clockwork to watch his soap operas and to Express your opinion Vote online in our monthly poll at www.dixiejobs.dcadvocate.net "Should Dixe join the Nature Coast Water Authority?O Dear Editor: I hope this letter is taken, in the spirit in which it is written. Positively, not negatively! I would like to discuss. "roadside memo- rials!" . Losing a loved one, be it a, person or pet, in an acci, dent is taumatic and . heart-breaking. An on- site roadside memorial is understandable and not objectionable, be it a tem- porary one. Those of us who live or own property near one of these memori- als are subjected to daily, stressful reminders of the occurence even though we were not involved, either in the accident or the identity of the victim. I think after a year, memo- rials should be removed and anniversary and holi- day decorations should be transferred to the.actual interrment site or ceme- tery instead. Some memorials are deco- rated for every and any occasion and are begin- ning.to look trashy in- stead of nice. I think a year is more than accept- able for a roadside memo- ,rial, but removal after that length of time is not only reasonable to adja- cent property holders but sensible so that everyone can have closure to an un- happy event, friends, fam- ily and strangers. I am one of these strangers. Thank you, R.M. McMullen, Cross City n for a while ., and I admit raged you to ito the hills to mind. Run! hel and the is! Run! 'Be- ti+ +Ct M rmt lM v have his 5:00 aperitif. He was a spiffy dresser and I don't : think I ever saw him stressed out or angry until that day '. when he finally said, "DARN it, Norris! Quit being cheap and go buy some decent two-ply!" He taught me that some- ` things are worth fighting and dying for, and a comfy, clean., backside is right up there with freedom to associate and tlt-e right to vote. . You've been reading this column now, you know that although, O.K it, I'm sort of a right-wing nut, I've never encoi stock up on weapons and ammo and to go up in await the coming apocalypse. I've changed my Find a cave! Load up the kids and Grandma Et chickens and the goats andithe jerry-cans of ga cause I have seen the-future, and things are abo here, folks. The liberals have taken over the government. the national credit cards up so high our grand working extra shifts at McDonald's to pay.themr with that. Hard work builds character. They'v Constitution and are trying to give Washington 'Senators that is blatantly against the ex- pressed wishes of the founding fathers, I'm cool,, I can live 'With that, too. It's just an old piepe of paper. Big-government is back and' we',r all socialists now. O.K. Howdy, Com- rade, .1 will learn to stand in bread lines. But now they want to strip us of the'one thing that separates us from the animals, and' I will NOT stand for it. Folks, they want to take our CHARMINN Somnething called the National Resource Council came out with a statement saying that they've changed their minds again; it's not my dinosaur-eating Ex- cursion that's destroying the planet...it's good toilet paper. They're being backed up by a publicity campaign by Greenpeace, that wants to "encourage" us all to use nasty, scratchy, horrid recycled-material paper produi visit the loo, It's only a matter of time before t mafia getsahold of our new President, and it's state mandate from the White House: scratchy sue or nothing . The environmentalists are as bad as the Islami about wanting todrag us, kicking and screamir the 14th century Did you know that Northern "splifiterfree" (Ow!) toilet tissue in the 30'sand had.2-ply since the 40's? It's no surprise to met T.P. shortage in the.US of A was in 1973 and wa Johnny Carson joking on the air that because o sis,. grocery stores were running out. It caused run orrtissue that took months to work out. Th feeling I have had lately that we're re-living the may be justified. It seems that the liberals are us back to the days when the Farmer's Almana handy hole in it so that you could hang it inrthi and tear one sheet off at a time. Revolts 'caused by bad T.P.'are not new to me. E was working for'Daddy out of the house where lives now, Jimmy Ruth was the Mayor, but he m for us selling real estate. He and I once staged Daddy's tendency to buy cheap. single-ply Scott To the editor: I am the chaplain of Camp 2086, Dixie De- fenders, Sons of Confeerate Veterans. That said, I would like to thank the Advocate for the pictures of the Re-enactors at the Fid- dler Crab Festival in the February 19,2009 issue of the newspaper. However, I would lille to comment about and correct the story on page seven. The first paragraph about the "special recognition plaque" was cor- rect. The.second paragraph had nothing to do with the subject, so why was it included? The Southern Mercury Magazine is not a publication-of the SCV and for your infor- mation is nolonger published. Then we come to the third paragraph, the contents of which again have riothing-to do .with the subject and as far as I can see was included by the Advocate to take,a cheap shot at the SCV Of'all "The War Between the States" historians the Advocate could Mr Cawley: Anyone who has read more than two of my columns knows without doubt that we here at the Advocate are not. "anti-Southern." Quite the contrary. I am a big fan of the United Sons of the Confederacy, in particular, and have been happily invited,to their functions by President May. lam so proud of their un- tiring efforts in, honoring all of Dixie's Veter- ans at the Veteran's Memorial on U.S. 19. I also enjoyed chatting with members of your group at the Fiddler Crab Festival about how we were all wishing that we were at the Olus-' tee battle instead. Heck, I'm even eligible to be the the United Daughters of the Confederacy:, my ancestor, James Jesse McKinney, I believe it was, died at the battle of Murphrysboro, TN. I spent the better part of a decade as a re-en- actor myself (albeit re-enacting a different century) and I know how much fun it can be. It's a great opportunity to preserve some of the past and to educate our children about our ancestors and how they lived. However, the Advocate has a responsibility to provide all of the citizens of the community with information. The placement of a memo- rial inside a public building that only com- , memorates those who fought "for the South- ern cause," while ignoring those who also fought and died for their country on the other side is not only controversial, but could be actually hurtful to large groups of Dixie County citizens. Those people have the right have quoted, they chose James McPherson, who in the war's circle of historians is well. known as being anti-southern. STo print in your paper that the SCV is an or- ganization with an agenda of thinly veiled support for white supremacy is outrageous and irresponsible and never should have ap- peared on the pages of your paper, unless, of course, your agenda is, like McPherson's anti-southern. I am offended and incensed as every good southerner should be. Those those para- graphs had nothing to do with the subject of the article and were both outright lies. Good journalism demands that claims and insinuations be, thoroughly investigated be-', fore being used and if you're going to take a! cheap shot at a good organization, say that that's what you're doing. Don't have ft in a - story about something entirely different. Larry Cawley, Qld Town to know all of the available information, re- gardless of personal attachment to my south- ern heritage. As for "lies, "any factual statement made in the short article can be found with a 30-sec- ond search opf Google or Wikipedia. Perhaps a little thorough "investigation" on your part is warranted before you start slinging mud and name-calling. A true Southern gentleman's honor should demand it. The Southern Mercury most certainly was a., joint publication of the SCV and the Military. Order of the Stars and Bars, and the article did not say it was still in production. Profes- sor McPherson's statements on the SCV were quoted word for word. He is one of many critics of the change in the SCV "from an apolitical organization dedicated to Civil War history to a politicized organization ded- icated to preserving the "Lost Cause" version' of the history of the Civil War and the 1861-, 1865 era." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonsof.Conr federate_Veterans#citenote-18) When an "historical" organization steps off of the battlefield or out of the classroom and into the public arena in pursuit of a political agenda, as the SCVhas, it is only to be ex- pected that your possible political motives.be' exposed to the sunlight by the media. To. expect a newspaper to do otherwise or to cen-, sor readily available information in the service of a particular cause or viewpoint is * what is "outrageous and irresponsible." --Editor Page 2 I When I was in high school, after my family sold Dixie Coun- ty State Bank, Daddy had some extra cash so he took Liz and They've run I on a six-country tour of Europe. I've been to gay Paree, ads will'be and I've seen the "turkish toilet" that is so popular all over i off. I'm fine the place there...I've had better facilities at hunting camp e attacked the outhouses. I've seen the bathroom with the mysterious ex- 1, D.C. two tra potty.' Ihave dohe the bidet. And let me tell you, it does- n't hold anything on a good American- "If by the mere force of made roll of Angdl Soft Ultra..:- numbers a majority I don't always buy the really expensive S 'stuff. I'm a single mom with three kids; should deprive a sometimes I'm looking for a bargain. I stand there in the aisle at Foodland, get- minority of any clearly ting in Fred's way, trying to mentally cal- culate what is the better deal: the 12 roll' written constitutional pack that promises that it holds as much as 24 regular rolls or the 8 pack with the right, it might, in a same promise for $7.99? I'm a smart shop- m oral o int. fi W .per I've been known to toy with the moral point, ofview, "cheaper brands. I'm not a paper snob. jiStify revointion" But recycled? OMG!!! What if every time lu. 0 we have to answer the call of nature we're -- Abraham Lincohn faced with that harsh old roll of gas-sta- tion style brown butcher's paper? The ' cts when we thought fills me with'fear. That stuff is for wrapping UPS he green packages or pork chops, not for personal hygiene. some sort of recycled tis- I also buy in bulk. I love Sam's Club shopping and if you see me with anything less than a 24-pack in my buggy, you know I'm either running out of room in the cart or that my c radicals closet at home is stuffed full of the soft, white quilted won- ng, back into der of civilization. Now that the environmental wacko tree- introduced huggers are threatening my supply, you can bet your bog, I that we've., roll that I'll be taking my stocking-up seriously how. I'm that the first just one person, I can't fight an entire government, even forv is caused by" quilted 3-ply with a built-in scent and lotion. I've "done my )f the oil cri- duty" (no pun intended) and warned you, now you're on a nationwide your owri. It's every girl for herself. , iat sinking SCarter era What this means of course, I'll have to buy some guns and trying to drag some ammo, too, because I know where all of the crazies .c had a will be breaking in after the coming collapse of western so-. 3 outhouse city when they run out of tissue in their underground shel- ters: my house. 3ack when I So don't even think about it, Buddy .I'll share my food, my my sister water, and my Cipro supply, but you ain't squeezin' my [. moonlighted Charmin. a coup over I tit.,ip Mr I -2U I .L Apppqmqw Soft"