Home > Duluth.Talk > Archives > 2007 > May
May 2007
Remember those who died for us
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I hope that everyone enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend. There is a long gap between Christmas and May, and it’s refreshing to give the brain an extra day to recuperate.
One thing that I like to do when I drive through Duluth on holidays like this is to look at the crosses that the city posts along the roads bearing the names of servicemen and servicewomen who died during various conflicts: World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm.
When I was going to a rehab facility during my recuperation from my stroke, I would look at the crosses that lined the roads during Veterans Day. I would read their names, noting the similarities and some of their last names. Were they brothers? Father and son? I did not recognize the names, but I thought to myself that these were people whose lives touched others, whose parents, whose spouses, whose children were forever impacted by their sacrifice. I was reminded that these people whom I did not know fought and died so that I, and others, could enjoy something greater than a three-day weekend.
It’s easy for us to think about picnics, cookouts, the deadlines of our jobs and the everyday things that seem to make up our lives. The crosses along the side of the road remind us that life isn’t easy, but people died so that we can live on and prosper. The three-day weekends are for the living, but it’s important to remember why that we have those weekends to begin with. We have them because others died to make sure that we could.
Say what you want about Duluth. Talk about the traffic, the continuous additions of strip malls and apartments and houses that replaced the trees dotting the countryside. But think about how this city remembers those who gave their lives so that we could live on in freedom to talk about traffic and strip malls. Remember those who gave their lives, and remember those family members who survive to share their experiences. And, think about a city that will not let us forget how important freedom is.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Bill Allen
He’s here legally and resents some illegal immigrants
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I had a fender bender last month and shared my experience with you in this blog.
There person who hit my car was nice and I suspected that he was in the United States illegally because he asked me not to call police and offered to pay for the damage. I still don’t know his immigration status, but he did have insurance and I am on my way to getting the car repaired.
I stopped at a convenience store in Duluth on my way home recently. The clerk recognized my picture from the paper. He has been reading my blogs (at least there’s one of you out there) and he read my views about illegal immigration with particular interest.
“I came to this country from Bangladesh in 1991,” he said. “I came here on a visa, I filed my application for a green card in 2001, and I got my card in 2005. I got married, and I now have a beautiful eight-month-old daughter. My wife applied for her green card in 2005, and she has at least two years to wait before her application is approved. We have to do the same thing for my daughter, as she was born in Bangladesh as well.
“I love this country. There are so many wonderful opportunities if you want to work hard. People are friendly. Americans sometimes take for granted how wonderful this country is, and it surprises me a little bit. But the country is fair, and the people are fair, and if Americans don’t realize it, I certainly do.
“What I resent is these people in Latin America, who basically step out of their backyard and work, send money home, and don’t do anything to be a citizen. My home is 3,000 miles away. These people hop on a car drive home, whenever they want to.
“It’s not fair. I don’t hate these people, and I’m not prejudiced against them. I do things the right way. I do what this country has asked me to do, and I am proud to do it. I resent these people who don’t do that. They are cheating, stealing from this country. I play by the rules. Why can’t they?”
My friend made an excellent point. The rules have to be the same for everybody. If they are not, then we must look at ourselves, not them, and ask why they aren’t.
Immigrants best tell the story of what America is by working hard and showing everyone how successful you can be. Those who are here illegally don’t play by the rules. They make America cheap by taking advantage of the blind eye that business and politicians turn on them.
I wish my friend well, and I hope that this country’s opportunities prove fruitful for him, for his family and for generations of American citizens to come.
Do you have friends or neighbors who are immigrants? How do they feel about immigration in America?
Permalink | Comments (52) | Post your comment | Categories: Bill Allen
What do you want to hear from politicians?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I had an interesting conversation the other day.
I had gone to Taco Mac in Duluth after work with a co-worker. We were talking to this man, he been in Atlanta for about a year and was originally from Connecticut. We talked about a lot of things: motorcycle helmets, the Fair Tax, the differences between North and South. I asked him what he thought about what was going on in politics.
“Man, I don’t even discuss politics anymore,” he replied. “I’m so sick of it all.”
“What you mean?” I asked.
“I’m sick of our politicians. Iraq, for example, it’s either ‘stay the course’ or, ‘we have lost.’ I don’t agree with Bush, but I don’t like much of what the Democrats are saying either. I have to be extreme on either one side or the other, and is the only choices I’m getting.
“No one’s talking about Social Security, no one’s talking about health care. We either believe in global warming, or you believe it’s all hocus-pocus. We’re either God-fearing Christians or heathen pagans. We are either liberal or conservative.
“Where is the middle ground?”
I thought about this for a minute. I said: “It seems to me like a politician is someone who can come up with more than one answer, or at least be able to persuade someone without beating them over the head. Have we run out of good ideas or have we just run out of politicians?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “We cannot possibly have run out of good ideas. I know some pretty smart people, and I know some pretty good politicians. They would never run for office. The elections aren’t about who is the better candidate, the elections are about who can stay the same thing consistently and spend the most money doing it.
“Personally, I think that’s boring. And ignorant. Politics is a profitable business, I have no doubt of that. It’s all become so standard though, there’s no creativity. It’s like movies, TV, sports, cars, everything else. Everything is marketed towards what makes money, not about what is unique. Sure you fail, but your success is much better doing something new than it is doing something consistently. That’s the best way to kill off creativity.”
He had a valid point. Nobody talks about politics anymore beyond the sound bite that they heard on the radio talkshow or on the TV news program. It’s more important to tell somebody that they are wrong than to convince somebody that they are right.
To me, that makes ideas stagnant and lethargic. I think some change would be nice.
What kinds of things would you like to hear our politicians talk about?
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: Bill Allen
Any after-school programs for middle school kids in Gwinnett?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was talking to a co-worker the other day. Her daughter is graduating from Chattahoochee Elementary in about a month, and she will start at Duluth Middle School in August.
“Are you nervous about your daughter going to a new school?,” I asked.
“Of course I worry,” she replied. “I’m a mother. But, my daughter is a good girl. She has good friends, she does well in school, and she’s not dating until she’s 30.”
“Do you worry about her now that she’s getting older?,” I asked.
“Yes, I worry,” she replied. “There is only so much that I as a parent can do. But it’s not so much school that I worry about. It’s the hours between three and six. That’s when children have the best opportunity to get in trouble.
“My daughter goes to an after-school program now. It’s run by a Korean couple, they are very nice. She does educational activities, homework, extra problems, things that exercise her mind. As a single parent, I want to make sure that my daughter has supervision and gives her something productive to do.
“But there isn’t really any kind of program available for kids who are 12, 13, 14 years old. This is the most crucial time of their development, but there really isn’t anything available to them, at least not that I found.
“I suppose when you’re in high school, you have extracurricular activities in which you can get involved. I just think it strange that, when children are the most critical age, there’s nothing available to help them. Fulton County has an after-school program, but there’s nothing like that in Duluth, or in Gwinnett.”
“I suppose it must be difficult to be a single parent,” I said.
“That’s not important,” she replied. “I’m her mother. Every parent should take care of the child. It doesn’t matter if you’re single, or if you’re married. I will do what’s best for my daughter. I would like to find something productive for her to do during those hours that I can’t be there.”
She has a point. Parents who want to do the right thing, would love to find productive alternatives for their children. I don’t have any of my own, so I have to kind of plead ignorance on this. However, it got me to thinking. So, I’m asking you: what kinds of programs are available for children aged 10 to 14 in Gwinnett County?
Permalink | Comments (42) | Categories: Bill Allen
Where are the affordable houses in Gwinnett?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My girlfriend is house hunting.
She had originally purchased a townhouse in Winder, and she was scheduled to move in May. However, the new unit burned to the ground a couple of weeks ago. She had all her furniture in storage, and the house was still under construction, so she came out of the experience in pretty good shape, all things considered.
So now she begins, again, the whole process of deciding where to live.
“I would prefer to be in either Gwinnett or Barrow County,” she said. “Snellville, Lawrenceville, Winder, Dacula, even Bethlehem. I teach in Walton County, so I think maybe the eastern part of Gwinnett.”
“There’s Duluth, you know,” I said. “It’s a pretty nice area.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” she said. “I don’t know all that much about it, other than to say that most of the housing options there are not really in a teacher’s salary range. It’s either too much to afford, or it’s getting surrounded by apartments and commercial stuff.”
She was born and raised in Atlanta, so she has a pretty good idea of what the area is like.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
This is what she told me:
“Two bedrooms, two baths, 1 or 2 car garage, sewer. No septic tanks! That’s what’s proving to be the hard part of this house hunting thus far. There are some nice, affordable houses in the areas in which I’m looking, but the developers are so gung ho to sell property, they won’t do the infrastructure right. ‘Don’t worry about roads and sewers,’ the developers and commissioners say. ‘Throw a septic tank in the back yard, throw on some tar and extra asphalt on the roads in five or ten years to deal with the potholes. Add some traffic lights to the road arteries when the neighborhoods pack the roads in, make sure that they are so out of sync with one another that traffic moves even worse. Don’t even think about widening the roads to accommodate the housing.’ That’s about how growth is in Gwinnett and Barrow.”
“Why do we put up with it?” I asked her.
“I guess because we love the South,” she said. “It’s still home. So, I’m going to find a home that works for me.”
Where would you look for an affordable house in Gwinnett or Barrow?
Permalink | Comments (28) | Categories: Bill Allen
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
