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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us September 17, 2005 Social Security plan is a lemon President Bush is trying to sell us a lemon, and I’m not buying it. He’s trying to dress up a risky Social Security privatization scheme — which, in reality, would guarantee benefit cuts for the American people and divert billions in taxpayer money to the president’s Wall Street friends. Alex Kazazian Talent Oak Knoll has problems at top There are a few little things wrong with the golf course itself, but there are lots and lots of big things wrong with the management of Oak Knoll Golf Course. There are new “rules” posted at the golf course. One of the new rules is that golfers are requested to “gently” hit range balls out of the fairways and back toward the driving range. There are several things wrong with this “rule.” 1) It’s a violation of the rules of golf to hit other balls while playing. 2) It’s not the job of golfers to pick the range. Oak Knoll had two perfectly good guys who did that, but they were fired when the new “head pro” was hired. 3) Why are range balls on the fairways in the first place? Because the fairways for holes one and two are dangerous places to be. Hundreds of balls from the driving range go over the net each day and land in the fairways. Golfers are innocently walking up and down those fairways, obliviously playing golf. They might as well be walking out in the middle of the driving range. A more reasonable “rule” would be that anyone playing golf at Oak Knoll is required to wear a football helmet. It’s only pure luck that nobody has been seriously injured or killed by a golf ball hitting him or her in the head. When that happens, the management of the golf course and the city attorney can’t claim they didn’t know it was a hazard. It is. There are at least 242 more things wrong with the management of Oak Knoll. Stay tuned. Gerard Jones Ashland Loss of faith is most damaging Despite NOAA’s ability to forecast the strengh, speed and direction of Hurricane Katrina, the full impact of its destructive force in terms of human suffering and property losses could not be accurately predicted. As was revealed, the real suffering and loss was compounded and finally realized by the bumbling and ineptitude of those governmental agencies entrusted to prepare for such worst-case scenarios, and hopefully prevent unnecessary death and chaos. In this case, the natural diaster started by Katrina became a man-made catastrophe by human ineffectiveness. Yet the drama is not over. Now we are faced with a second, more predictable and longer-lingering storm. That of the chest thumping and finger pointing of the politicians in an effort to absolve themselves of incompetence and lack of empathy. Consistent with the modern trend of political leadership, the higher we climb the political ladder of responsibility, the more furious the chest thumping becomes, while any semblance of truth becomes fainter. Disgracefully, for our political leaders, this degeneration into placing or avoiding blame has become a standard for the measurement of their good leadership. In this way, the life interests of the governed became secondary to the political interests of those who govern. And tragically, for the average citizen, there is no shelter from this storm. Of all the damage left by Katrina, the worst by far, is this continued loss of faith in our politicial leaders to have the wisdom, grit or political morality to act decisively and with honest determination to protect the lives and property of those they have sworn to serve. Michael Harrison Ashland Council makes a bad decision When I moved to Ashland, I was excited at the prospect of signing up with AFN, but AFN doesn't serve my home — right across from Ashland Hospital. So I had no choice but to sign up with Charter. Now, because of continued mismanagement of AFN, I will be charged $7.50 per month to bail it out, along with other low-income, energy-conserving citizens of Ashland — the same fee that will be paid by large businesses and mansion-dwellers. Why did any of you think this was fair? If the electric customers of Ashland must pay for the mistakes of city government, couldn't it at least be done on a percentage basis, as Alex Amarotico suggested? I usually agree with your decisions, but this one is a real lemon. Julia Sommer Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams