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The Columbus Packet, P.O. Box 53, Columbus MS 39703
Roger Larsen, Editor/Publisher - Phone/Fax: 662-329-1741



Editor:

People of Highland Circle signed a petition indicating a desire and need for a speed bump on the circle and a stop sign at the East end of our street. Even the police chief wanted a stop sign there. I took the petition to a meeting with the mayor and city council pleading our case. Mayor Smith, Jay Jordan and Joey Hudnall stated at the meeting that something needed to be done. That was over a year ago, still no speed bump or stop sign.

I was pleased to see the goals our Mayor has for us in 2008. They were printed in 1 Jan dispatch. Especially item #6 in his letter, he stated, "I am committed to the safety and security of our citizens and their property." This is a high priority goal but we're still waiting for our stop sign and speed bump.

Other cities in MS have speed bumps in their residential areas, why can't we? What about the speed bumps on Hwy 45 between Hwy 82 and Brooksville where the speed limit is 55 mph? If that's legal, then why not speed bumps on residential streets where the speed limit is 15 mph? Now, why can't we have a stop sign at the end of our street to slow down the through traffic? The following is an answer to that question: Our ward 5 councilman, Mr. Jordan, told me that everybody would want a stop sign if he put one there. Then Mr. Kevin Stafford told me that stop signs don't prevent accidents. Both men are well educated but comments like that show a mind set in direct opposition to the Mayor's goals for 08.

Because of those comments and Mr. Jordan's reluctance to help us, I plan to qualify ASAP and run as an Independent Candidate for Ward 5 Councilman. Another reason I plan to run is the smoking ban that seems to be tabled indefinately. It doesn't take a whole lot of common sense to know that we shouldn't be dragging our feet about this issue. I think there's very little room for debate when it comes to health and safety issues, don't you agree?

Raymond Gross
Columbus

Editor:

The National Global Youth Service Day at ICS Coleman Head Start was a great success due to our many volunteers and contributors. Our America Reads Mississippi team would like to say that you so much to the following:
The Commercial Dispatch, WCBI, Priscilla King/Shelter Insurance, Youth Challenge, Roy Tate/Southern Elite Catering, Leo’s Luxury Limos, McDonalds Hwy. 182, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Jimmy Adams/Twice the Ice House, House of Tux, Capt. Martin Andrews, Columbus Fire Dept., Mayor Robert Smith, One of a King Screen Printing, McDonald’s Hwy. 45, Bank First, Jumpers LLC, Sqwincher, Chancery CLerk Lisa Younger Neese, 4 County, Skeet’s Hot Dogs, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. of MUW, Check into Cash, and the Columbus Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.

Also, special appreciation to Angie Verdell who entertained everyone as our Clown.

Thanks to each of you, our students, parents, and staff truly enjoyed the day’s activities.

AmeriCorps/ARM
MSU Members
Sara Singleton
Ann Summerville

Roger:

I have been thinking about this:

In Columbus some teens had a fight
Various people can't decide who is right:
The one who took a chance
And asked the "wrong" girl to dance
Or the several who beat him up out of spite.

or—a more confrontational version:

The Heritage teens had a fight
Ms. Vaughan cannot decide who is right:
The one who took a chance
And asked the "wrong" girl to dance
Or the several who beat him up out of spite.

Saul [Vydas]

Dr. Vydas is a psychiatrist and he can’t figure it out either—at least not from the news accounts and Dispatch editorials. But if he could get the teens and the parents on the couch for a few months.... Ed.


Editor:

Class A at ICS Coleman Headstart would like to say Thank You to Jan & Oop Swoope for the tour of Rock Hill Stables.

They were very kind and patient with our young students and the students really enjoyed learning about the horses.

Annie Bell, Ann Summerville
Class A. students

Editor:

Who has made the decision to call people at home to campaign for office and make it legal? This is harassment pure and simple! To be awakened 5-8 times a day is tantamount to torture. With all due respect, please cut it out! I am a nurse and I work the night shift... so I am trying to sleep during the day. I pay my phone bill so I can have family and friends contact me when it is needed, they know, unless it is dire not to call me during the day. I do have a friend in hospice care... and a mother that is 73 years old so I do not turn off my phone when I am asleep.

I am a voter and I do listen to the TV, research on the internet, read newspapers, read all the signs you litter our roads with and make an informed decision on how I need to vote. What I do not need is someone calling my home trying to get me to vote their way, if it is a must that you call my home, at least have the taste to do it in person and not a recording!

Come on people of Mississippi, stand up and scream. Many of you that have seen my other letters to the editor have said how glad you are that someone has complained. Well only one person is not going to get anything done. Call the offices, people, and or write letters of your own. My only other wish is that I could find their phone numbers and give them a call at 3:00 a.m., and I would have the decency to do it in person, to discuss the merits of the person they want me to vote for.

Truly Tired,
Jeanna Alexander

Editor:

A Columbus Packet Success story:

I would like to thank the Columbus Packet for running the ad in last weeks paper about our missing Pomeranians. They were both returned to us Monday May 5th. We would also like to thank everyone that called trying to help us locate them. And especially to the lady that called that brought them back home. We are a family that is whole again thanks to everyone in this community.

Donna Biltoft

We don’t charge for lost-pet ads and I encourage people to place them. By the way, several weeks ago one of my dogs clawed through the fence on the South Side and disappeared along with another one who followed him out. I suspected that they stayed near the shop and that someone dropped a tailgate and they jumped in. One was a young black lab and the other an old, rough-looking part boxer with a bad right eye. The lab is the type of dog that would be find a home but the boxer is not and would be at great risk. I should have advertised them earlier but assumed that someone took them on purpose. I hope anyone who knows anything about them will call 329-1741.

Editor


Editor:

In response to the letter in last week's Columbus Packet, as manager of the shelter, I have an overwhelming responsibility for the number of animals that come through this door on a daily basis. I don't think people realize how many animals get picked up by Animal Control or are surrendered to us. It is my duty as a Christian and member of this community to humanely care for these animals and make the hard decisions we have to make regarding their welfare. The letter I read in the Packet was very hurtful and obviously, the person is misinformed about us. The letter appears to have several issues; one is that we are just about the numbers and do not care about the individual animals. If that were the case, I wouldn't waste my time with the animals that are not adoptable. If anyone wants to come by and see my dogs and cats at my house, which I have saved from being euthanized, feel free, especially my mange infested dog, Charlie.

I guess most people don't know about the poor dog with a collar embedded in its neck 2 inches deep that we treated and found a home for, or the poor puppy with a missing paw we nursed back to health and found a home for, or the poor little kitten that we bottle fed and got adopted. I guess they don't know about feral cats that we have neutered and released instead of the alternative which is death. No, I suppose we just look at numbers! I also bet that they don't know some of the shelter employees work an extra 15 plus hours some weeks for free to get these animals adopted at off-site events, or that some of us even come here at night to check on animals we are treating or to check the outside cages for "dump outs" so they won't be out in the weather at night. I also bet they don't see the tears that sometimes fall when the decision is made to euthanize.

It takes a special person to be able to handle this kind of pressure, to love these animals for a few months, not find them a home, and have to make the decision to end its life to make space for a new one. I pray you never find yourself in the position to have to put down healthy animals because people won't spay or neuter their animals in order to stop the birth of unwanted animals. Shame on you for saying that me and my team don't care! Come to the shelter and volunteer to help me handle all the animals that come through this door and then you may judge me and my staff and our board, who by the way, all have their own personal jobs and family to worry about but, still make time to help us; if they didn't care they wouldn't even be here.

The other issue seems to be that we are [accused] of taking revenue from the local veterinarians with our low-cost spay/neuter program. First of all, to be eligible, one has to be on some type of federal or state assistance to even qualify; it is targeted toward those who can't afford the 100 plus dollars it cost to have an animal altered at a veterinarian clinic, of which some of these people have several pets. However, I'm sure that there are those who will abuse the program and not take their pet to their personal vet but, then again, vets make their money via the health care of the animal through its lifetime, not the one time spay or neuter cost.

Another issue seems to be the pediatric spaying/neutering. This practice is taught and approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association. The MSU Veterinary School would not teach future vets this procedure if it were not safe. You will find that "old school" teaching is that dogs and cats must be around six months of age; however, veterinary schools, only fairly recently, started teaching pediatric spay/neuter so, most veterinarians practicing today did not learn these technical procedures in vet school. There are a number of benefits from an early age spay/neuter program; the information is out there to look up or just call your vet school for more information on this matter. I can't stress enough, in a shelter setting, the importance of early age spay/neuter; can you even imagine how many lives have been saved because of this?

The letter states that she wonders how many puppies and kittens are dead in their cages in the morning from spaying and neutering; well, the MSU vet school was just here last week and spayed/neutered 20 plus puppies and kittens. When I got to work I saw the 8 week old puppies playing in there cage and looking at me wondering "where is my food". I also, saw the one pound kittens playing with their ball. In fact, I can only speak for the time I have been here, which is going on two and half years, and I have only seen 3 surgery related deaths out of over two thousand plus surgeries. The fact is, any surgery is risky; if it weren't, anyone could do it. I'm sure death occurs once in a while; you hope things go well but, remember, there is always a risk no matter if it is a puppy, kitten or adult animal, or a human. It was also mentioned we don't provide follow up treatment but, there is a telephone number on the postoperation instruction sheet to call in case of emergency. Our veterinarian has been in practice for over 11 years and she is very wonderful, competent, and available 24/7.

The facts are simple; we are trying to safe lives here and nothing else. Let me share with you some facts that you may or may not want know. Because of human irresponsibility, we take in an average of 65 dogs and cats per week and we can only house so many. In fact, last Monday we took in 36 dogs and cats then on Tuesday, of the same week we took in another 22 animals. Where do they all go? You tell me. The sad reality is there are not enough good homes for these pets. We manage to only connect about 10 lost animals to their owners per week. We also, only adopt out around 70 per month. Did you know that last year we took in over 3400 animals and had to euthanize around 1700? Why do we have to euthanize so many? Three reasons, two of which are major contributors: 1) Animals are not tagged or chipped and the owner never thinks to check the shelter (these animals shouldn't have to die, but they do); 2) we get litters and litters of unwanted puppies and kittens because irresponsible people won't get their animals spayed or neutered; and, 3) the least, of which, is owner surrender, can't keep, and never gets adopted.

If we let animals go out un-altered just because they are puppies and kittens, then there would be cases where people wouldn't bring them back to be spayed/neutered, or the animals would get loose and whoops, now she is pregnant or he got a female pregnant. How many more would those offspring reproduce, and so on and so on…We are putting down too many healthy animals because of irresponsible pet owners.

I have the best and worst job in the world; it is rewarding and heartbreaking all in one. So, before you criticize on something you know nothing about, come down and talk with us and see what we go through everyday. It is always much easier to judge than to jump in and lend a helping hand. The fact is, we have a competent staff and board whose goal is to protect these and all animals and, hopefully one day in our community, to drastically reduce the number of animals euthanized. To the person who wrote the article, if you could spend a week in my shoes, I bet you would change your mind about us, the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society.

Sincerely,

Jason Nickles
Shelter Manager

Editor:

Everybody has their own beliefs. Based not on certainty, but on what seems right and true or probable.

Why can’t you all give this man Mr. Studdard a chance to help these children? The prisons are full, over-crowded with kids that couldn’t help themselves because the lack of funds. If this man wants to do a good thing, let him. It takes a bail of money to get a good lawyer.

It might not be your children, maybe that’s the reason you don’t want him to help others. But the way God looks at it, all children are ours - white, black, whatever color. I am a Christian, I love the Lord, and I love any idea that can help our children and grandchildren.

So, I am asking whoever this building concern. In the name of Jesus, I pray you will give him a chance. Prayer works! Because Jesus said anything we ask in Him name, His Father in Heaven will give it to us. That’s my prayer.

A concerned grandmother,
Gertrude Shanklin

Editor:

As a parent, I have great concerns about the abilities of our so-called leaders in the school system.

In 2007 Caledonia hired a Coach to represent our school as the Lady Feds Fastpitch Coach. Prior to her becoming the Lady Feds coach, we were District North half and State Champs. When you came to the Lady Feds Field, you could feel the love of the game in the air, spirits were flowing, bleachers packed to capacity, fans cheering, and the Lady Feds playing their hearts out. Now I am sad to say, this has ended, bleachers near empty, spirits broken, and the love of the game ripped from their hearts. This coach benched 3 seniors, who have played for 6 years, and repeatedly questioned their abilities - she said, “due to the lack of leadership.” Is it lack of leadership that we question our coaching inabilities? I believe that leadership should start and also be shown by your coach, which she failed to do, and furthermore, since when is it written in stone that seniors have to be the leaders? This is how our Coach plays ball. She gets mad and quits talking to the girls, she distances herself from the team as if she is ashamed of them, declines comment to the newspaper after losing a ballgame, and not talking to the girls, but talking about them to others. She tells me that she would rather quit coaching than to coach my daughter, but yet picks her to play and represent the Lady Feds in the 2008 All-Star Games for the State of Mississippi. Isn’t that what we would call a double standard? Well, coach, you like to quote scriptures? I have one for you: James 1:8 “A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.”

This program is for our children. They are the ones who dedicate and sacrifice social events, family gatherings, and many other things too numerous to mention, but yet it doesn’t seem important enough to our Athletic Director, Principal, or the Superintendent to address these issues that we as parents have presented to them. Without our children you have no program, or does it truly matter as long as pay-day comes? When you are a leader and it involves our children, ask yourself at the end of the day have you done all you can do? We as parents need your support in backing our children when it comes to doing what’s right, as this is the future that will lead America one day. I ask that you continue to pray for our leaders, that they will make the right decision for the good of the children. So, to our seniors, Kelsey, Savannah & Kristen, through the curve balls the coach threw you, you showed true leadership and that makes you the winners!!!!!

Valerie Riley

Editor:

My letter is to the “Humane Society.”

I have been a patron of the Columbus- Lowndes Humane Society on one or two occasions. I am appalled at the “treatment” that is going on at the Humane Society. I work at a vet clinic here in town and was witness to a 15-oz. kitten that was spayed at the CLHS. Per the owner, they begged them not to spay this kitten that they would give them the money and come back because she was just too little. The Humane Society said no, they couldn’t do that, and that they had to “maintain their statistics.” Despite the treatment we could give, that kitten died.

I am sitting here wondering to myself what the statistics are on the kitten and puppies they spay or neuter and find dead in the morning. The “Humane Society” no longer seems to care about the inividual animal, just the statistic. It should be malpractice to provide surgery and other services without follow-up treatment when they screw up. We as veterinary professionals are losing clients and revenue to low-cost spay/neuter programs that some of our clients are perfectly able to pay for and we end up seeing the animals when they get sick from the lowcost surgery.

My opinion is you get what you pay for as far as that is concerned. I don’t think the shelter is so much a shelter anymore as a processing plant. The faster we can get them in and out our doors dead or alive, the better. I think the shelter management and the board need a complete overhaul and find someone who cares about the animals as individuals and not just the numbers.

Sincerely,
Heather Reynolds

Editor:

Open Letter to the Good People of Our Community
Columbus’War on Drugs:

As you might already know, Columbus is in a battle. We, as police officers, are sad to say we are losing this battle. “The battle” we are referring to is illegal drugs. There is a big misconception that our community has been immune to this problem. We have arrested people that are trafficking large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and meth through Columbus—our community!!! With your help, we can turn the table on drug dealers in Columbus.

Specially trained dogs are the only way to detect and help conquer this “battle” with drugs. They are able to locate drugs that have been concealed inside automobiles and houses that a human would not be able to detect. This workload is now falling on one dog due to the recent “retirement” of several older canines. We are in desperate need for more dogs that will tremendously help in our “battle.” These dogs will be dual purpose canines trained in detecting all drug types as well as apprehension and protection. The price to purchase just one of these dogs will be $12,500. Our police officers can only do so much to bring drug dealers under the judicial boundaries that our normal citizens are living under without the use of these highly trained canines.

The cost of 2 canines is a financial mountain that we haven’t been able to overcome. If we could get help from people and organizations like you in sponsoring some part of the cost of these dogs, the training and cost of the three week class will be paid by the city. If we can’t make a stand against drug dealers or keep drugs away from the kids of Columbus, who will? To get further information or to speak to someone directly, please call one of the following officers at any time:

Sgt. Glenn Culpepper - 364- 2456

Patrolman Wade Beard - 251-2077

Patrolman Heath Beard - 386-7906

Shelia Elder, Secretary to the Chief of Police - 244-3528

Working with you for a safer community!!!

Joseph St. John
Chief of Police

Dear Roger:

Just a note to let you know how much Carol and I enjoyed the picture of Mother and Daddy with Frances Stinson, and the accompanying article. It really brought back fond memories of days gone by. It’s remarkable to know that she’s been a “government employee” for over sixty years!

We love the pictures and articles of days past and hope you continue to print some.

Sincerely,

Becki Propst Vassar

Dear Editor,

It seems that Dr. Del Phillips and the Columbus Municipal School Board are blinded by short sighted gains mostly with regards to funding. The 54-acre site they selected on Hwy 45 is perfect for the 60 kids from Columbus AFB who left with their federal funding for the Caledonia Schools, but does nothing for the rest of the Columbus community, let alone the children of the city of Columbus. Selecting a school site 3-5 miles north of town, outside of the city limits, on the most heavily traveled five lane road in the county is a poor selection with a lot of drawbacks. Less than 50 children from the air base will be eligible to attend this new school at any one time and they will have an easy short drive down 373. But for the vast majority of students who live east of downtown Columbus, the board has selected a one hour one way bus ride for them; and to participate in extracurricular activities, staying after school hours, their parents are locked into a 30 minute round trip venture thru rush hour traffic in "small town America." All this in the face of rising gas prices and diesel for buses at $4 a gallon, double the price paid for bus fuel in 2006. What is the estimated increased bus fuel costs for this new location at $4/gallon (How much will it be when the school opens in 2010?), which now includes a minimum 3 mile one way ride out of the city limits, past the 10 other possible sites?

I don't think Dr. Phillips chooses to know how much that will cost the taxpayers of Columbus or the parents of the children who live in east Columbus. He and the CMSB are too obsessed with chasing the federal funding they lost a year ago. Did the board have a discussion about the safety issues surrounding placement of the school site on the busiest stretch of road in the county? I didn't hear about that plan. Who will pay for the street lights, the extra law enforcement needs? Will that be bond money? Who knows, not the school board. The last issue is that of Community pride. Why will a majority of the parents of the fine middle school aged children of this town have to travel an inordinate amount of time, paying a premium for gas, to participate with their children at school, be it a daily drop off or pick up, watching a play, conferencing with teachers, or watching a basketball game? Is the federal money worth it? Perhaps not.

The Citizens of Columbus voted for a bond issue worth $22 Million and now the fruit of their efforts will be represented by another annoying stop light on the way to Tupelo. Poor choice, hastily made, Dr Phillips. Thank goodness the deal is not final yet, call your school board representative at 241-7400 and leave them a message and let them know how you feel about their decision.

Jordan Smith
Columbus

Editor:

Once again, the originator and organizer of "Grillin' on the River", Harvey Myrick, has another feather in his cap! Harvey, along with the affable Chuck Cook of Magnolia Motor Speedwa, made all who participated in, or attended the "Grillin' on the River" event feel welcome. Sherry Whitehead of Cumulus Broadcasting was our Guardian Angel. She was everywhere at all times promoting our cause with the individuals and groups in attendance.

We, as the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society, were fortunate to be the recipients of donations made and are deeply grateful. It was an added plus for us to be able to bring eight dogs and cats to the site and find loving homes for each of them. The event was well planned and very well organized. Everyone in attendance enjoyed themselves - from the grilling teams, the older adults, the young couples with children, to the numerous vendors. Last weekend was a compliment to the City of Columbus. Thank you, Harvey and Chuck, for allowing us to be a part of it.

Sincerely,

The Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society Board of Directors and Employees
Post Office Box 85
Columbus, MS 39703

Editor:

Even though the prosecuting witnesses swore "to tell the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth, so help me God", they told BIG lies that had a BIG impact on the jury for the Feb. 19 & 20 trial of Michael Gene Ray at the Lowndes Co. court house for the stabbing death of Daniel Hudson June 17, 2005. This took place in Mike Ray's yard, near The Slab House on Caledonia/Vernon Road, Caledonia, Miss. I've known Mike all his life. He is a caring, compassionate man that loves his family--not a murderer ! Mike did what anyone else would have done in his situation--defend his sister, himself and his home. Had he not, he would have easily been the victim instead of Danny because Danny was throwing dangerous concrete rocks at Mike (I saw them). Had one of the rocks hit Mike in the right spot, it would have killed him. He acted in self defense. Mike has been a better daddy figure for Alecia than Danny because of Danny's two stints in prison most of her life due to armed robbery. He had been released an approximate year when the stabbing took place.. Alecia's time with Danny was little and that time with him was also shared with a woman Danny was living with outside of marriage--another bad example for a parent/child relationship.

I was present both days of the trial and easily saw in the beginning that the trial was unfair for Mike. The court house had a poor sound system. When I complained about not being able to hear, the first deputy said "I can't either." The 2nd. one "we've been trying to get a better one, but not so far." The 3rd. said "go tell the judge." That was impossible because there's a wood divider with a gate that we weren't allowed to go through.

Alecia, a sweet, precious, Christian girl, was only 11 yrs. old June 2005. Even though a bright and intelligent child, it was impossiible to remember step by step in correct order after 2 1/2 yrs. before the trial. Doris & Sheila were too scared/ex- cited to report some important facts to law officials present that night.They were concentrating on the present, not upcoming days in court; otherwise, Sheila would have told about Danny's knocking the trailer door facing & lock off (this I also saw)so he could get inside to physically abuse her like he'd done a lot of times in the past & Doris would have thought to report Danny's threat to kill Mike. Jimmy Wright (operator of Slab House)denied Danny asking him, “Where's Mike? I'm gonna' kill him—the S.O.B,” yet Danny was talking directly to Jimmy, who has no hearing problem, but obviously has a problem with telling the truth—like Renae. His reason for lying shows his cowardness of the truth. Renae said when she saw Danny lying on the ground, his intestines were coming out of the stab wound— NOT true! Sheila and Alecia were closer longer to Danny as he lay on the ground, no intestines were visible! Several of the medical field that are familiar with such said those statements were made out of ignorance and stupidity. Renae also said there were no rocks even though there were pictures available for proof and again, I saw the rocks! These oversights and lying witnesses (products of The Slab House and other hell-hole beer joints like it) made the case easy for the prosecuting attorney. I'm only one of the many that wonder why God hasn't directed one of the most damaging tornados thru these s o r r y / r o t t e n places, tearing them to splinters and scattering them all over the world! Maybe there's worse yet to come ?!?! Nothing good comes from these places only illicit sex, violence and crime—this stabbing death is only one good example. The scars last a l i f e t i m e - w i t h hatred, bitterness, sadness, tears, worries, suffering, heartbreaks, etc.

Reba Cooper
Birmingham, Ala.

Editor:

Is Evolution Theory Racist?

I believe a recent Associated Press story titled Creation Museum founder releases book calling evolution theory racist was inaccurate and misleading. The writer, Dylan Lovan, put the usual spin on the topic in an attempt to discredit Ken Ham’s position that evolutionary theory is racist. To this end he quotes David Schultz, a biology Professor, who said that Darwin had a history of “speaking out against slavery”. “Darwin was not a racist”, he further quoted Schultz.

In defense of Darwin— Internet sites maintained by ardent Darwinists attempt to defend his racial views. They quote his writings that decried slavery and the mistreatment of indigenous individuals by European explorers. But they failed to point out that you can be a racist and still oppose slavery.

Missed the point— I think the writer of that AP story and the sources he quoted all missed the point. The basic premise of evolutionary dogma presupposes a naturalistic process that can be explained totally without reference to the Supernatural. Although most people in our country have heard of Charles Darwin’s famous book, I’m guessing few have read it. Even fewer probably know its full title: The Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, Or the Preservation of Favorable Races in the Struggle for Life.

Hitler and evolution— And if Survival of the Fittest is the supreme rule of the Universe, who’s to say it’s wrong for a despot like Hitler to try to improve the human condition for all time by eliminating those whom he considered “inferior”? If superior races survive, won’t the inferior ones perish? If so, then he was just helping things along; speeding up the inevitable. No, we are told in Lovan’s article, quoting Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, that “Hitler rarely mentioned evolution”. Hitler also mentioned God, we are also told, though I’m not sure what this adds to the argument.

Darwinian influence on Nazi policies - Biology professor Dr. Jerry Berg writes “Leading Nazis, and early 1900 influential German biologists, revealed in their writings that Darwin’s theory and publications had a major influence upon Nazi race policies. Hitler believed that the human gene pool could be improved by using selective breeding similar to how farmers breed superior cattle strains. In the formulation of their racial policies, Hitler’s government relied heavily upon Darwinism, especially the elaborations by Spencer and Haeckel.”

No, the argument that evolution theory is racist is not a “ploy to get evolution out of the curriculum” as reported in the AP article. Instead, the evidence adequately supports the contention that it is racist, unpopular as this is among Darwin followers. Darwinists are crying like stuck pigs over the Ben Stein movie “Expelled”, which opened last week in the top ten in box office receipts. This movie is filled with examples of those who have lost their jobs, mostly within academia, because they dared to question the Darwinian dogma. Most Darwinians seem to detest the notion that there may be an intelligent designer behind the origin of life. And yet, as we saw in “Expelled”, leading evolutionists have not the foggiest notion of how life began.

Gerald McKibben
Starkville

Editor:

My wife, Cindy, and I moved from southside two years ago back home to the Sessums community in Oktibbeha county. Sessums is located approximately midway between Artesia and the MSU MSU campus. We built a house down in my horse pasture where 15 years ago we built about a three-acre lake just down the hill from our house site.

For five or six years in a row, we have had a pair of Canada geese nest on the little island in our lake. We named them Gus and Gussie and we can differentiate by the fact that Gus, the gander, is a good bit larger than his mate and I presume you know that Canadas mate for life. I feed the geese corn over on the far bank of the lake and as you may or may not know, geese love green grass and they graze in the pasture with our horses who have become quite used to them. Just across Crawford Road from our lake is a big open soybean field, unplanted as yet and very grassy, so Gus and Gussie often fly over there to forage. If you will watch a pair of Canada geese, they take turns feeding. One always stands guard with its head up while the other grazes.

Friday afternoon about six-thirty I had gone down to the far end of my pasture to feed my horses. Cindy was sitting on the front porch when she noticed a truck slow and stop just past our driveway. She heard one shot and then another. She said they were small caliber rifle shots. We have had trouble with road-hunters before and she yelled for me but there was a wind and her cries went unheard. When I came back to the house she said that a very shiny, silver, four-door truck had stopped and shot from the road at something over in the big field. As we do on most days, I had seen wild turkeys in the bean field earlier in the day and assumed that the road-hunters had shot at them. I jumped in my truck and rode to the south and saw the truck my wife had described at a trailer about nearby on Crawford Road. I stopped to find two boys and a girl, MSU students on the front porch. They admitted that they had just returned from “riding around” but denied they had shot from the road. From the nervous way the truck owner acted, I was sure I had the right party but at least now he knew that in this community we won't tolerate road-hunters. Please bear in mind that, at this time, I was fairly calm because I thought he was shooting at the turkeys. Please read on.

Returning home, I didn't really notice Gus and Gussie. They fly around the neighborhood some but are always here at night. Just after dark we begin to hear the most disconsolate honkings from the lake. It continued even after we went to bed and I remarked to my wife that our geese were mighty upset over something. Each year other pairs of Canadas attempt to take over Gussie's Island and I presumed it was just the normal “goose wars” or maybe a racoon prowling the bank. Saturday morning as I drove across the levee of the lake, I saw something grey in the water, caught up on a willow limb at the far end of the lake. As I drove closer, my heart sank, it was a goose, floating belly-up. I jumped out and pulled Gussie from the water and found the place the bullet struck her, a gut shot, just beneath her breast, yet somehow, mortally wounded with the painful gut shot, she had made it home. Now it put a tear in my eye to wonder if all the honkings were Gus calling for us to help. Gus was gone and we haven't seen him since.

Now I knew what the road-hunters were shooting at so I doubled back to get my wife and we headed south. As we topped the hill and came in sight of the trailer, my wife said “I see the truck.” I asked her if she was sure and she said “absolutely.” No one was home but we took the tag number.

I called the game wardens but of course, the shooter denies it and with no clear-cut proof, we have no case but, you know, in this world we live in these days, we have crackheads, methheads, thugs, vandals, looters and thieves. Would we not like to think that “MSU students” would be cut from a different cloth, fine young men and women who would live by higher standards of conduct?

To me every person in that truck who held his or her tongue to let this degenerate young man shoot our goose is just as guilty as the shooter. His actions reflected upon MSU, his family, his raising, and especially, his father. What kind of father would raise a son that would, with no qualm or moral twinge, out of season, from a public road, during nesting season, with her lifelong soulmate standing guard beside her, trusting that he had just stopped just to admire his beautiful mate, shoot our sweet Gussie? And now he isn't even man enough to admit his misdeed and offer and apology.

But even if we can't prosecute, the dean of students and I aren't through with him yet.

(Attached picture is of Gussie just after I pulled her from the water.)

Mike Reese
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