Katrina And Rita's Kids

Editorial - Septermber 27, 2005 - The Washington Times

In legislation making the rounds of Capitol Hill, President Bush is proposing up to $2.6 billion in elementary, secondary and post-secondary relief. The bulk of the money, $1.9 billion, would reimburse school districts that enroll at least 10 hurricane-displaced students this school year. The money could be used for salaries and transportation, as well as counseling and classroom materials, with a per-pupil maximum of $7,500.
Those expenditures have received bipartisan support on the Hill. But here's the rub with the liberals: The president also wants to provide a $7,500 per-pupil maximum to students enrolled in private schools.

As the article notes, "liberals want to treat children in private and religious schools as outcasts." If children were in private schools before the hurricanes, liberals feel they should be abandoned, or forced to find a school on their own without the reimbursement other students would receive. You have to assume this is punishment for having attended private schools before the hurricanes. They support this position without regard to the economic condition of the parents. It makes no difference if the family is middle class or rich. The liberals want them denied equal compenstaion. This is the new definition of equality under the law for liberals. You are equally despised if you don't attend public schools.

Dip In Ad Spending Threatens Papers

By Dan Sewell - September 23, 2005 - Associated Press

Federated Department Stores Inc.'s takeover of May Department Stores looks like bad news for the newspaper industry, which already has been hurt by years of reduced department store advertising.

Though this article predicts the continuing decline of the local newspaper's advertising base, it still seems oblivious to the real damage that is being done to the newspaper revenue stream overall.

The Internet has several growth areas that are damaging newspapers, even if you exclude the damage that bloggers have done to the credibility of newspapers and their propensity to deliver a liberal slanted view of the world. These areas are; job advertisements, auto ads, store coupon ads and business ads. Department store ads, the focus of this article is simply one of the business ad areas that are moving advertising out of newspapers.

As ads disappear, a large reason for buying newspapers disappears, damaging further the already eroding base of newspaper circulation.

The intelligent search capability of ads on the Internet make them more desirable from the standpoint of the person looking for something. The significantly lower cost of distribution makes the ad more attractive from the standpoint of the person placing an ad. Both are driving the huge growth of Internet advertisement at the expense of other advertising media. Newspapers are bearing a large share of the loss in revenue to the Internet. Google, Yahoo and MSN are the major ad revenue competitors of local newspapers today.

Another article called "Old-style media on the defensive" explains why some of this is happening.

As advertising on online giants such as Google, Yahoo! and msn becomes increasingly sophisticated, advertisers are diverting hundreds of millions of marketing dollars away from newspapers, radio and television to the nation's most popular websites.

It does not appear that newspapers have yet figured out what to do about this trend, nor do they seem realistically inclined to recognize the certainty that it will continue and even accelerate. What is certain is that a great number of newspapers will be shut down in the coming years. The loss of revenue assures it. The only questions, which ones and how soon.

Chicken On The Cashie - October 12th

The Windsor / Bertie County Chamber of Commerce has announced the 15th Annual Chicken on the Cashie will be held at the Cashie Country Club on Wednesday, October 12th. This is a rescheduled date due to Hurricane Ophelia.

The sponsoring organizations are the Bertie County Fire Departments including, Windsor, Colerain, Perrytown, Blue Jay, Askewville, Merry Hill and Trap.

The Golf Tournatment is shaping up to be a great contest. Since there are a limited number of team openings you should get your 4 man team application submitted early. Call (252) 794-4277 for registration forms. 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM Tee Times. Lunch will be served for all golfers. All golfers also get a goody bag.

Evening activities start at 5:00 PM, and will include the bands, "The Embers" and "BackDraft". Eat all you want of Perdue Chicken, prepared in a variety of ways, while you visit with friends and dance the night away. Food, Beverages, and Fun Inflatables from Classic Rentals in Ahoskie for the kids are included in the Ticket Price. Tickets are $20 in Advance and $25 at the gate (10 and Under are FREE)

Chamber Director Patrick Demofonte Models New T-Shirts

The famous "Chicken on the Cashie" T-shirts have become world famous, and have been sighted on beaches from Santa Monica California to Venice Italy. You have a choice of several colors.

Make sure you get yours when you attend the 15th Annual "Chicken on the Cashie - Bertie Style"!

Tickets are available at: Windsor/ Bertie Chamber, Carolina Country Restaurant in Windsor, Ahoskie Fire Department, Edenton-Chowan Chamber, P&H Exhaust in Williamston, Ahoskie Chamber, Wholesale Cash & Carry in Ahoskie, Port O’ Plymouth River Museum, Martin County Chamber, Windsor Fire Department, Southern Bank in Ahoskie, Timberlake Service Center in Woodland and Cashie Country Club.

Mayhem in the Middle

By Chester E. Finn Jr. - Septermber 20, 2005 - National Review Online

Subtitle: Out with the “Middle Schoolism.”

This is an article that will not be popular with the educrats of America. The fact that many of the people who control our schools actually believe that students in middle school should not be challenged is a surprise to most parents who send their children to school to be challenged.

If ever an education fad showed dreadful timing, reaching its intellectual and political pinnacle just as lightning struck the mountaintop, it's "middle schoolism." The key year was 1989, when the middle-school bible, an influential Carnegie-backed report named Turning Points, was published. It hit just as the governors and Pres. George H.W. Bush gathered in Charlottesville to place the United States squarely astride the standards-based reform that is antithetical to the central message of this education religion.

In the ensuing decade and a half, the National Middle School Association (NMSA) and its acolytes, flying the banner of "Turning Points" and arguing that the middle grades are no time for academic learning, argued with great success that these schools should be devoted to social adjustment, coping with hormonal throbs, and looking out for the needs of the "whole child."

We are making progress, but it is critical that more parents become aware of the hidden agendas of many in the education establishment. These agendas border on a religion to control education and steer it in directions that are actively opposed to the agenda of parents, and as noted above, the Governors of all of our states.

I find it truly astounding that anyone can seriously argue that we should take 4 years of a childs life and stop teaching them in a challenging way.

Senator Fred Smith Visits Windsor

Very soon after North Carolina U.S. Senator Richard Burr was in Windsor to check on progress at the Bertie Memorial Hospital, North Carolina State Senator Fred Smith paid us a visit as well. Senator Smith's purpose was to check on status as well, but this time the status was the growth of the Republican Party in Eastern Carolina.

North Carolina State Senator Fred Smith

Party leaders from 3 local counties, Bertie, Hertford and Martin, were on hand in Windsor to hear an animated presentation from Senator Smith on the growing importance of Eastern Carolina to the future of the Republican Party. Though there is not a single Republican office holder in the region, the party sees that changing in the coming years.

Though the purpose of this visit was party building, there is rumored to be another long term goal as well. Fred Smith, an impressive and self made business success and a former lawyer, is considered by many Republicans to be the ideal candidate for Governor of the State of North Carolina. Raised in the orphanage that his parents worked in, his humble beginnings have helped Senator Fred Smith become a likable and charismatic leader.

He is a former star athlete, won a football scholaship to Wake Forest and continues his interest in sports and physical fitness through the athletic clubs that are a part of his business empire.

Though he was given a very complimentary article in the Charlotte Observer last month. While discussing TV presence the paper did have to criticize that Sentor Smith has a "slightly nasal voice". It did not come across that way face to face, but TV is always an interesting medium. It is highly likely that you will see him on TV so you can judge for yourself.

Official Meeting Is Over And Conversations Continue All Over The Room

The meeting was well attended by all 3 counties, and further meetings are already in the works. Most attendees were impressed with Senator Smith's grass roots credentials. Unlike many of the very successful and wealthy candidates who get into politics, Senator Smith has paid his dues along the way, starting his political career as a County Commissioner.

Newspapers are saying that Senator Fred Smith has a "plain name". However there is nothing else plain about Fred Smith.

District Governor At Windsor Rotary

Brenda Tinkham, Rotary International District Governor from Murfreesboro, was the keynote speaker at the Windsor Rotary Club today. She presented all members of the Windsor club with lapel pins containing the theme being promoted by Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, 2005-06 Rotary International President from Sweden. This theme will be "Service Above Self".

Brenda Tinkham, District Governor

"Service Above Self", is the original motto of the Rotary club when it was founded 100 years ago, and will be a key element of the 101 year celebrations that are coming up. Brenda talked for some time on all the exiting events that are coming up, and the significance of the clubs longevity to its effectiveness.

Brenda Tinkham Is Presented Traditional Cup By Buneva Everett, Windsor Rotary President

The Rotary is a civic organiztion that does great things for our area. The Windsor club has donated several scholarships to worthy students in our area in the last year. The club meets every Thursday at noon in the Carolina Country Restaurant in Windsor.

First Responders Honored

The Askewville Assembly of God Church chose 9/11 as their first barbecue to thank and honor the Bertie County First Responders who keep us safe. This is that group of people who spend their days waiting to protect us from the disasters which so often strike. No other day has so well defined what we owe them as 9/11 of 4 years ago.

A Day To Remember

The TV cameras that day showed us what these people live with, and the stress that it places on their families. For most of us it was the first real awareness that they are there to place the lives of those they swore an oath to protect above their own.

John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

First Responders - On The Front Right, The Blue Jay Fire Department From Indian Woods

Pastor Roy Denton of the Askewville Assembly of God was recently approached by Ronald and Jennifer Cullipher, who have felt a calling to establish a ministry for the "first responders" of Bertie County. This day of honor is the kickoff for that new ministry.

Pastor Roy Denton Of Askewville Assembly Of God

The term, "first responders" became a part of our vocabulary on 9/11. It encompasses the law enforcement, fire and emergency medical personnel who keep us safe. In Bertie County it includes all the following groups:

Askewville Fire and Rescue
Bertie County Sheriff's Department
Bertie County Rescue
Windsor Fire Department
Windsor Police Department
Lewiston Police Department
Colerain Rescue
Trap Fire Department
Indian Woods Fire Department
Kellford Fire Department
Colerain Fire Department
Aulander Police Department
Perrytown Fire Department
Blue Jay Fire Department
Merry Hill Fire Department
Aulander Fire Department
Lewiston Fire Department

Please excuse me if I left anyone off. We appreciate you all. Thank you so very much for what you do for us.

Jennipher And Ronald Cullipher Start New Ministry

If any first responder or their family needs counseling from the stress of these jobs, please contact Ronald and Jennifer. You may reach them through the Askewville Assembly of God Church. They are there to help you.

Part Of The Group That Spent All Day Cooking To Honor The First Responders - Thanks To Them Too

Katrina Misses New Orleans, Heavily Damages Mississippi

Front Page Headline - August 30, 2005

Yes, that is right. the New York Times blared to the world that New Orleans was OKAY the day AFTER the hurricane went through. All attention was directed to Mississippi, according to the Times.

Shortly the New York Times will be blaming this headline on George Bush too I suppose. However they have already said that his failure to respond to the levee breaks was proof of his lack of concern for the people of New Orleans. The reason there was not food for the people at the Superdome was Bush's fault. So they say.

The headline above was on Tuesday. It was not until Wednesday that the consequence of the levee breaks was understood by local officials. However the next day, on Thursday, the New York Times said that Bush had known "since Sunday how bad it would be." What has he been waiting for? "Where is FEMA?" was their demand. He had known since Sunday? Why was the Times claiming two days later that there was no problem, but Bush is supposed to know there is?

To the Times, the levee breaks are not an issue for local officials charged with managing the emergency plan . They are not an issue for the Mayor who set up the Superdome as refuge of last resort, imploring people to "bring food and water with them" since none had been planned for or stored there. He made this spur of the moment decision on Sunday even though that was not what the official emergency plan called for. It was still not a problem for the Mayor on Tuesday when it appeared that there was only minor damage to New Orleans.

On Wednesday it became a crisis that George Bush has not provided food and water for people that the Mayor sent to the Superdome because he could not figure out how to implement that part of the official local emergency plan that said these people would be evacuated using the buses that he left in the flood plane until it was too late to use them. He could still have used them on Tuesday as the plan provided (while the New York Times was saying Katrina missed New Orleans) but he didn't think he needed to evacuate the people from the Superdome at that point.

Click here to see the picture of the buses the Mayor failed to use to evacuate the Superdome and Convention Center.

The buses were not flooded until Wednesday. It was then that George Bush was supposed to provide food for these people who were stranded. It was then that it became George Bush's fault. It was then the Mayor went on radio and cursed George Bush. It was then that all of the media in American agreed it was George Bush's fault.

On a similar point, several levees in New Orleans had just been rebuilt with money provided by the federal government. It was two of those that failed. However when they failed, the New York Times decided it was George Bush's fault that he did not ask congress to approve additional money to repair other levees that did not fail. This failure to ask for more funds proved how little he cared about New Orleans, according to the Times. Therefore the levees that failed were his fault too even though THEY had been rebuilt.

With that same attitude, I want to know why George Bush allowed the New York Times Editors to claim on Tuesday August 30, 2005 that New Orleans was okay, when he had to know that newly rebuilt levees would fail later that day and create a crisis? Don't you want to know too?

Sometimes the willingness of the Main Stream Media to blame George Bush for everything gets a little bizarre.

Senator Burr Visits Windsor

It is rare to see national officials in our area of the state, but U.S. Senator Richard Burr arrived in Windsor at 10:00 AM on Thursday to see the progress on the facilities at Bertie Memorial Hospital. Burr was one of the dignitaries at the original groundbreaking ceremony for Bertie Memorial Hospital, even though at the time he was a member of congress serving a completely different part of our State. Richard Burr has long been a champion of health care for seniors and the poor.

Claire Mills, Senator Richard Burr and Jeff Sackrickson

Claire Mills, Vice President of Patient Care Services for University Health Systems, Senator Richard Burr, and Jeffrey Sackrickson, President of Bertie Memorial Hospital discussed the new facitilities at Bertie Memorial Hospital during Senator Burr's stop..

Senator Burr has been touring eastern North Carolina and made stops in Windsor, Sunbury, Ahoskie and Garysburg on this most recent visit.

Mayor Bob Spivey (third from left) in discussions with Joel Butler, Stephen Lawler, and Jeff Sacrickson of University Health Systems.

At the Windsor stop, Senator Burr met with numerous local dignitaries, including Mayor Bob Spivey. Senator Burr was very interested in Mayor Spivey's plans for the Windsor area, and before he left the area, they left for a discussion of another project (not shared with the press) that Mayor Spivey is promoting.

Senator Richard Burr And Mayor Bob Spivey Head Out For Discussions Of New Porject

The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald covered the event, and you can read the details of Senator Burr's comments on their Internet article here