Create change by speaking up for beliefs
The world is speaking up. Are you listening?
Yes, the world is speaking up, uniting and taking action against civil liberties being taken and against mandates. To name just a few: the longest truck convoy in history in Canada; thousands gathering in Washington D.C.; thousands gathering in Paris; Brussels, Sidney, London— all over the world. Yes, here too in downtown Murphy patriots were protesting the mandates.
In addition, the filibuster is preserved so that minority parties can still be heard, the “Build Back America bill” has been killed, courts are ruling against mandates and so much more. This country and the world are saying enough is enough. This patriot is excited and bursting at the seams with patriotism. I am feeling full of hope once again.
Never underestimate the “Butterfly Effect.” Basically meaning that no matter how small, the effect will be felt all over the world. What can you do? Speak your truth at your local school board and city council meetings, call your senators and voice your opinions. These officials work for us. Have you been injured by “the jab” or affected by the shutdowns or mandates? Send a letter to the editor and tell your story.
Fly your American flag so that we see flags everywhere we look. Join a patriot group and join in on protests — peacefully and patriotically. Next peaceful protest in downtown Murphy is 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Feb.19. Show up. Permits are issued. A few active groups in our area are Citizens for a Better America, Cherokee County Assembly, Convention of States or start your own group. Whatever is calling to you, just get involved.
Do you feel the calling? Be courageous. This isn’t about any particular political party. This is about being brothers and sisters of the humankind family and freedom. Keep your eyes and ears wide open for the truth. It is unfolding before us. Have no fear. United we stand.
Penny Johnson, Murphy
Co-founder of Citizens for a Better America
Monuments do not teach us about history
"I feel that it is due to the Ku Klux Klan which saved us from Negro domination and carpet-bag rule, that it be memorialized on Stone Mountain. Why not represent a small group of them in their nightly uniform approaching in the distance?"
— Helen Plane, Honorary Life President of the Georgia State
Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy suggesting that the proposed monument include night riders. This quote is from a letter written to Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor commissioned by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association to create the world's largest memorial to the Confederate States of America and a major rallying point for the Ku Klux Klan in the 1950s and early '60s.
I was born and grew up in and around the city of Stone Mountain and the memorial. I witnessed as a young boy cross burnings on the mountain by the Klan and my great aunt was a member herself of the Daughters of the Confederacy. I know first hand about the attitudes and actions of southern white supremacy. The Daughters of the Confederacy beyond being an auxiliary to the Klan are largely responsible for promoting "The Lost Cause" mythology of the Confederacy: the belief that the owners of human beings practiced a benevolent slavery, that slaves were content and provided for and were grateful to their masters.
Ann Atchison states in her letter it is "ridiculousness to pull down monuments that are teaching history, bad or good." Confederate monuments do not teach history. They merely extol traitors to the United States like Lee and Jackson and all others who fought against the United States.
One final personal note, I loved my great aunt. She taught me to read when I was 4. She taught elementary school her whole life, was never married or partnered with anyone. She was an unofficial matriarch to many in my family: cousins, uncles, my mother and brother. She lived her own life as a single woman beholden to no one. If she were still here I would show her this letter.
Bill Bagwell
Investigate the facts at multiple sources
Bidenflation. No. There have been a number of letters/comments here and elsewhere blaming Biden for the continuing rise in gasoline. We should look at the facts here regarding this instead of knee jerk reactions and just passing on more Fox news lies.
• OPEC has been withholding supplies in order to increase their revenues.
• United States oil production has been dramatically lower due to covid.
• The harsh winter has been tough on refinery production.
• Supply and demand always rule pricing, not the proclamations and posturing of politicians.
These facts are presented from sources such as: gasbuddy.com, msn.com, AAA gas prices, Reuters, Forbes, Wall Street journal, Ela and: oilprice.com. Fox News and Facebook are not reliable sources of facts. They are sources of lies, misinformation and propaganda.
I have not presented these facts to defend Biden and the Democratic party as I am not a believer in either the Democratic nor Republican parties. I do believe in facts, reality. If these price increases were due to Biden, then why have prices in Europe more than doubled? Does Biden have control of prices in Europe?
Investigate facts at multiple sources, people, not at Fox News and Facebook.
Jim Grazis
Share a dinner in the name of the one whose love is enduring
Hearts, candy, red cards with romantic verses and restaurants that advertise special dinners for two at this time of year are everywhere you look.
For many people it's a time to celebrate with that person you love. What kind of day is it for those who've lost that special person they loved the most? It's not a celebration at all. In fact it's just the opposite — it's an agonizingly long day full of reminders that you're now alone. No card full of endearments, no candy or flowers and more importantly, not being able to look into the face of that one you miss every day, and say, " I love you."
If this is you, know that you are not alone. I, too, have experienced devastating loss.
We have two sons, one who lives in Duluth, Ga. and the other who lived with us here in the mountains, as he had diabetes and other health problems that made it impossible for him to live alone and support himself. That was fine with us. Steve had a terrific sense of humor and loved to help his dad with the garden. In 2015, after several years of ups and downs with his diabetes, Steve contracted a staph infection that traveled to his heart, resulting in a heart attack that took his life at the age of 34. It is impossible to describe the pain of losing a child unless you are talking to another parent who has experienced the same type of loss. This loss was compounded by the fact that Jonathan, our other son, was busy raising a family of his own, 100 miles away and we could not see him as often as we would have liked.
Somehow, my husband Clint and I adjusted as well as we could to life without our boy and developed new routines to get through the day without him. No longer did we have the responsibility of doctor’s appointments, insulin injections or special diabetic meals to prepare. Slowly Clint and I worked back to the ‘couple relationship’ we’d had when we first married, always with the shadow of our loss over us. We were surviving and growing closer to each other than we had ever been. When we cried about Steve, we had each other to hold on to.
Then, in 2020, Clint was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. The ride home from the doctor’s office was in silence. He started chemotherapy and radiation in April and I refused to believe that the therapies would not work. I refused to believe that the cancer would win and even though Clint wanted to talk to me about important, serious, matters, concerning life without him, I would not listen.
On Sept. 26, 2020 Clint succumbed to complications from the cancer. My son brought me home from the hospital and stayed and helped me with those important, serious matters for a week. Then he left to be with his own family. Now I found myself entirely alone.
Each day is a struggle. Waking to a house that is quiet all the time, no noises from another room. Mornings drinking coffee by myself, with no one to share a conversation. Dinner? Maybe a bowl of cereal or some crackers. After all, who is there to cook for anymore? Trying to get through twelve hours until it’s time to go to bed again, alone, so that you can sleep and forget for a while.
I know what loss is and I know that no one can bring back your special someone.
There are those who care, who would think it an honor if you would allow them to make this day a little less lonely, a little less painful for you.
With this in mind, we would like to extend a dinner invitation to you for Monday, Feb. 14 at the Community Services Building in Hayesville. Join us at 6 p.m. and let us share a spaghetti dinner with you in the name of the one whose love is enduring and steadfast.
So that we can prepare accordingly and ensure that we have enough space for everyone who wishes to attend, we ask that you RSVP as soon as possible to (770) 402-4619.