Columns/Opinions

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

First of all, Avinger is a small town -- a really small town. The last census placed its population at 444 -- a number that probably stays fairly constant with predictable births, deaths, arrivals and departures. It has one blinking red light, one bank, one dollar store and one gas station. You’ll also find a general mercantile, a uniform shop, an art gallery, a Masonic lodge and a timber company. Avinger has an all-purpose education/event center with a full kitchen, a City Hall, a community park, two restaurants and numerous churches. It has a dedicated and courageous all-volunteer fire department, and one school that boasts a total enrollment of 142 students from grade K-12. That’s about it.

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

OMG, I don’t know where to start here. This controversy has really hit a nerve not just with me but with millions of parents across the nation. What is this country turning into? Have we really lost our way so bad that we just give up on our basic moral values? Apparently so it seems. A few weeks ago the Fort Worth ISD school superintendent over stepped his bounds by instituting a transgender bathroom rule basically allowing students to use the bathroom of their choice. Naturally parents were outraged and rightly so. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick asked the superintendent to resign but he refused. Hopefully the school board in Fort Worth ISD can overrule him or terminate his contract.

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

By Leslie Riseden

Special contributor to

The Steel Country Bee

Wai’ing. Moun’ain. Clin’on. Impor’an’. When did we start dropping the “t” in the pronunciation of these words? And it’s not just kids. Every day I hear this lazy speech roll off the tongues of newscasters, attorneys, spokespersons, public officials and others who should know better. Where in the world did this trend come from? Yes, it takes a little more effort (very little) to say “important” and enunciate each “t” clearly. But, goodness knows, we have enough silent letters in the English language, thanks to the multitude of languages from which it evolved. Let’s not start silencing those that shouldn’t be.

A Patriot's Opinion

By Jim Snyder

Oh my, stop the presses! Can this be real? Jim Snyder is actually saying something bad about the Republican Party. Yes it’s true! The Republican Party seems to have an identity crisis. By that I mean they seem to think one way when it comes to what they want in a presidential candidate but manage to pick someone completely opposite of their belief system.

For the last 28 years or so the Republican Party has wained for another Ronald Reagan to come along. For any of the republicans who are old enough to remember Ronald Reagan was probably the greatest president in our lifetime. We loved him because he was a great communicator, he was tough when it came to foreign policy, and he knew how to create a booming economy. He was also famous for knowing that government was always the problem not the solution. He was a true conservative.

In the April 21 edition of The Steel Country Bee, the editor stated that page 4 of the newspaper is the opinion page. I have written a letter to the editor previously. My letter was never published; however, I did receive a response from Jim Snyder. You stated that anyone is welcome to write a letter; however, with the editor’s column. Mr. Snyder’s column, and the recipe, there is not space left for anything else. It is apparent that The Bee leans conservative, which it has a right to do. However, knowing Morris County is not 100 percent Republican, there are few letters or columns published containing a dissenting view. You are right that everyone is entitled to their own opinions; however, everyone is not entitled to their own facts.

By: Toni Walker

Editor

news@steelcountrybee.com

With Mother’s Day approaching, I have had some friends who are weighing on my heart. It has also got me thinking about what really makes the world go round.

There is a picture that goes around on Facebook periodically that reads “Strong Women; May we be them, may we know them, may we raise them.” As the mother of two girls, I can tell you that one of my greatest goals in life is that my girls will grow up to be strong, independent women, who, would be able to take care of themselves on their own if the need arises. More than that, though, I want to raise my girls to be strong in their faith, and strong in the belief of themselves. One of the greatest things that my mom and dad did for me was to teach me to believe in myself.

My youngest daughter, Anistyn, will be six in May, and she is terrified of storms. If a storm comes in the middle of the night, and it wakes her up, she will be in our room, shaking like a leaf.

The other morning, about 4 a.m., a whopper of a storm rolled into our neck of the woods. Our dachshund, Noel, was the first to be awoken by the storm, and she high-tailed it my room to get in the bed with me. (She is almost as scared of storms as Anistyn is.) Before the dog could get settled down in my bed, here comes Anistyn, who had been woken up by the storm. We knew there would be no getting her back in her bed, as she was shaking like a leaf, so we allowed her to crawl in the bed with us. She snuggled up with her daddy and, with his giant arms around her, quickly went back to sleep. She knew she was safe.

By now I think everyone is growing tired of Donald Trump’s constant whining every time something doesn’t go his way. Even though he is leading in the current delegate count he still thinks the system is rigged against him. Of course when the delegate count goes his way as it has in other states he has no problem with the rules and regulations. But when someone else, in this case Ted Cruz uses the same rules and regulations to collect more delegates than Mr. Trump, well then the system must be crooked.

Now let’s look at a little background on Donald Trump. This man has built enormous buildings and hotels all over the United States. And while building those structures he used every trick in the book when it came to building codes, zoning rules, tax regulations, eminent domain, and any other rule or regulation that got in his way. So why all of a sudden is he whining about Ted Cruz using the rules and regulations to his advantage to collect delegates?