| Breathitt Online News Archives People #1 |
| Commentary by Pez 12-26-03 About 13 years or so ago While still a member of the U.S. Army Reserve in Hazard, I was in a mandatory class that was discussing people and their thoughts. The subject that took up most of the day long class consisted of pet peeves of people or things that irritated us. I remember writing some of them down and a then we were broken down into groups and tried to sum it up. Everyone has a pet peeve. Here is the list as best as I can recall it and how it sums up. Of course, during class, this list was a pet peeve. We hated people that are Hypocritical, Two-Faced, Wise-butts, Stubborn, Conceited, Shallow, Self-Centered, Teeny-boppers, Obnoxious, Rude, Self-Absorbed, Mean, Cold, Black-Hearted, Ignorant, Against Or Make Fun Of Other Races, Religions, Ethnicies, Backrounds, Etc., Players, Liars, Closed Minded, Wanna-Be's, Indecisive, Insensitive, Back-Stabbers, Cheaters, Overly Optomistic, Naive, Overly Sensitive, Egotistical, Narrow Minded, Posers, Users. In short, to sum it all up, put it all together and we hated people that were breathing. Now, look within this opinion board, or any other for that matter, and read it with an attentive eye and open mind. Many times we are able to read the condemnation of one school district or the other. The argumental subject of belief has once again taken off as a semi hot subject. A death that occurs on the highways always has the same content in the thread. Was alcohol or drugs involved? Has it come to the point that the above list fits everyone in Breathitt County? The point is this, sometimes when we complain about all the things we do not agree with or what really irritates us, we may not be seeing the reflection when we look into our own mirrors. We talk and expect others to listen, but turn a deaf ear to what, we ourselves are saying. On-line opinion boards are a great example of that. Maybe we have come to the point that we should sit down and write our pet peeves and watch ourselves closely to see if we, ourselves, fit into our own list. I think many of us would be amazed at the similarities between the individual list that would be jotted down. As always this is my commentary Mountain Moments -by OH Napier Dec 13th. Here is a picture of someone that I truely loved and I always will. Many of you may no her as Red. Her real name is Cara Marie Wadsworth. She was formerly the Editor of the Jackson Times. She helped me in so many ways as I would have never been on this board or have my own web site if not for her. She has now moved away to be with her two beautiful children in North Carolina. She is like the ghost of Christmas past and present as she is a very beautiful lady.. I can never be with her again, but I will dream about her and always remember the love that we shared together. I now have moved on to a new life and a new computer as God will always watch over us that want to succeed. Her name is Loredith (Browneyes) Howard and she hails from Indiana. Oh God watch over us all this Christmas. (OH) Mountain Moments- OH Napier-12-5-03- Here is part of the Hardshell gang. This picture was taken last spring on a clear lovely day. Actually after hearing the story about Butch Napier saving Victor Hudson's life on WYMT News this week I wanted to put a picture of Butch on here. This is the only one I can find as my normal computer programmer has left me for a spell. Anyway, we all were back at the family graveyard having our regularly week-end visits as they were all the time something and someback there as Jimmy Napier in the middle always was into something like we all love to play horseshoes and just have a good old country time. Starting on the left is Virgil (Butch} Napier, then going across toward the right there is Samuel Campbell, Jimmy Napier, who now resting behind us on the graveyard beside his son Jimbo, then there is me and last but not least is the wild man himself Tim Roberts. You notice the rope directly behind us. That was there just in case some one came by that got out of hand as we did not call the law as we were the law on Tator Nob. We did the arresting as Jim was the judge and the rest of us were the jury. We also rendered the virdict too. You can read all about us in my book "Hillbilly From Heaven" as this is were I lived for six or more months with a couple of 18 yr old girls and my two dogs. We stayed in a van there at the bottom of the graveyard and we never worried about having no electric. I did see few ghosts however. (OH) A Dog’s Life By: Renee Snowden 12-5-03 I must say that life is good, even for a dog. I recently celebrated my ninth birthday in human years. However in dog years (well we won’t go there). The humans celebrated my birthday along with their Thanksgiving dinner. I was thankful for that because that meant that I had a good birthday dinner. It was rather tasty. Ham, rolls, etc. On top of all the delicious food that I had for my birthday, I was also lucky enough to have my human family with me and the cat and other dog that lives with me (although they can be a bit obnoxious at times). I truly do enjoy their company. I would never admit it but it is kind of funny watching Daisy the Terrier and the cat, Samantha chasing each other around the house. Ok, I love them both. However, I will never admit it if you tell them. I mean I have to have some pride and respect as a growing mature dog. The humans have also been getting ready for Christmas around here. They have stockings, as they call them, hanging up. According to them, I have one of my very own. It is red, green, and gold. I remember last year when the humans tried to put my treats in there. I think they put them in there for a reason, I just cant’ figure out why. So I helped myself too them. So as you can tell, all is good on the home front here. My Friends My Dogs by Elizabeth McKinney 12-3-03 I just finished a survey in a health magazine. The idea was to check your actual age against your answers on this survey. One of the plus questions was: do you own a pet? This magazine along with several others states that owning a pet will make you healthier and younger than your actual age. Of course, I can't prove or disprove these claims. I can only tell you my story of our pets. I do feel that our dogs have made our life happier and less stressful. My dad and mom always owned a pet dog. The told us a dog is your best friend because he loves you, if you're rich or poor, good or bad. I guess that is why they make us happy because they love us just the way we are. At the lowest points in my life, God has always sent us a dog to love us and for us to love. No, I don't believe these dogs came into our life by chance. I believe God causes things to happen in our lives to make it easier and happier. Our first dog was Christmas, Chris for short. He was an abandoned puppy that our daughter found on Christmas Day. He grew up with her. He was known in our community as Chris, the church dog, but that is another story though. The next dog in our lives belonged to a neighbor in our apartment building. Our daughter was a senior in high school. We lived alone most of the time, because my husband was working in New Jersey. The dog's name was Dog. She had also been abandoned. Our neighbor's grown daughter had found her and brought her home. Dog would come sleep in front of our apartment door, as if she knew we were alone. She would walk my daughter the two blocks to school every morning. That summer when my husband came home to stay, Dog went back to sleeping in front of our neighbor's door. She seemed to know that I was safe and didn't need her anymore. When my husband first began to get sick, someone sat a white fuzzy puppy off at our house. We named her Princess. She was a joy to own for both my husband and me. She helped my husband through many bad days. We now own Pepper or Peppy, as my son calls him. He is red and full of energy. All our family loves him, especially my sick husband. He will smile when Pepper rubs against his legs to be petted. So I truly believe that dogs make our lives less stressful and happier. What do you think? Subject: Over 30 People over 30 should be dead. 12-3-03 Here's why ............ According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have survived. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, ... and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.) As children, we would ride in cars with no seatbelts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. NO CELL PHONES!!!!! Unthinkable! We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We went outside and found them. We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents? We had fights and punchedeach other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them! Congratulations! Please feel free to pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good !!!!! Commentary by Pez 12-30-03 How many more? That's the question I, along with many others have concerning the recent drug overdose cases. The Breathitt County Coroner, Bob Thorpe, has stated that 20 deaths have occurred in Breathitt County in the month of December and 9 of them are drug/alcohol related. This number does not detail the ones that have overdosed and survived. Does this not hit home to some of the people that are doing or contemplating on doing drugs? As I was watching CNN a couple of weeks ago, one of the guests on at that time was given his opinions concerning the widespread drug abuse in the United States. During this interview, the subject of OC's came up and he explained that it is known throughout the United States as Hillbilly Heroin due to the widespread use of it in Eastern Kentucky. Now that really should throw a red flag up for certain people, shouldn't it? I cannot pinpoint who is responsible for letting this kind of behavior continue in Breathitt County. If you talk to different entities concerning this issue, they all seem to point the finger at each other for the most part. The State Police say they can do just so much, while the Sheriffs Office and Jackson Police Department say they are doing all they can. Also, their beef is that all they can do is arrest people and leave it up to the Judge and the Lawyers. At the same time the Lawyers and Judge state they cannot prosecute unless their is an arrest made. Now the question to them is simple. Who is lying and who is telling the truth? Many of the news agencies report that the guilty parties are set free due to the tactics the lawyers use. A Defense Attorney is paid good money to ensure that their client does not get convicted or spend time locked up. What if this same attorney had a child that were the one laying in the funeral home? Would they be so quick to defend the drug dealers then? I am in no way condeming attorneys, but if they have the slightest hint that their client is guilty of dealing in drugs, why would they even take the case? Does it all boil down to money or does this profession have no ethics and morals? There is no doubt many can come up with rebuttals to this statement, just as they could for many of my commentaries, but maybe they will at least stop long enough to read into it. Rumors have ran rampant in Breathitt County for a long time now that certain people are on the take and provide protection to the dealers. If this were to be true, what kind of people do we have representing us? What kind of person would put the life of our people on a plate for an exchange of money? Does this kind of behavior by elected and appointed officials give reprieve to the judge and lawyers? During the 2002 election, many of our officials talked of neighborhood watches and the plans to crack down on the widespread drug use, but looking at the numbers listed above, this either has not been initiated or it is not working effectively. In closing, I can only hope that someone, somewhere will read this commentary and give it some serious thought and reach out and help someone that fits into any of the categories above. I understand that the problem is here to stay, but if everyone works together, maybe it can be minimized just a little. As always, this is my commentary. Mountain Moments with OH Napier 1-4-03 This is a picture of Tommy and Todd Young, the children of Tom and Bea Young of Plymouth Indiana. They are kin to Browneyes and she is very proud of them. They are the Nephews of Cluster Howard.and The grandchildren of Bill and Hazel Howard. Sis said she sends you her love boys and hopes this makes you very happy to see, {This is her Christmas present to you.} You boys look like movie stars. Boys watch out, Sis has made you all famous now. Wish you all the best. Anytime you all want to come down to the hills of Kentucky we will go fishing and Indian hunting. {OH} Breathitt Online News Looking forward to Great Year in 2004. 1-5-04 Jackson, Ky When we began the Online News in April of 2002, we set very realistic goals on where we wanted to be. Alot has happened in the past 2 + years. One of our members went on to become the Breathitt County Coroner, Bobby Thorpe Jr. and since the beginning, we have added several new writers, all of whom we are very proud of. We have covered breaking stories like the Athol tornado in '03 and the Feb. floods of '03. We have covered the high amount of drug related deaths as well as our election coverage. We have went from 200 page visits a day, to an average of 1,700 a day now peaking at over 2,000 hits per day. We are greatful to all of you that visit all our web pages, and look forward to some very exciting additions throughout this year. We will continue to add regional news straight from local papers. We will also be looking to printing our Newletter for the public in March. As Always, we would like to say thank you to all of you and wish you a happy and proseperous year! Special Weekly Commentary by pez 12-8-03 It's here again! What you may ask? High School Basketball is here and once again there appears to be a power struggle amongst the parents and coaches. Why is it that each and every year there appears to be this struggle which eventually destroys a teams chance of ever improving or competing for a chance to play for the "Big Game". I can't tell you how many times I have heard kids asking their parents to please be quiet while they were playing. When mom or dad won't pipe down, the next step is off the field of play. Many kids drop sports due to this reason alone. As a sports leader, coach or parent of a young athlete, you may have come face to face with unruly parents, players, referees and coaches whose win-at-all-costs mentality spoils kids’ fun. Maybe you’ve witnessed talented young athletes abandoning once loved sports as the pressure to perform becomes too intense, too emotionally charged, or sometimes, too dangerous. Violence has become commonplace on the fields of play, and the formula is simple, direct and brutal. Taunting from the sidelines escalates, coaches and spectators fail to see the rising tensions and finally, rage boils over. Before it was coaches helping the kids who were having trouble controlling their emotions. Now it is, let's provide leadership to help the coaches and referees control not only the players, but also the parents. Any team is just as good as the people that support it. If you have static in the stands, it will eventually boil over to the playing field and in the end, the players themselves will be the ones who are hurt. Children who have been friends for years will now be at each others throat due to the overflow of their parents feelings. Remember the children trust the parents and believe what they see and hear from them and sometimes this is detrimental to not only the child, but also to the team as a whole. I am in no way pointing out any parent, referee, coach or school, but if you fit in any of the described comments above or you know of someone that does, maybe you need to take a step back and view the entire scene or talk to someone that has tunnel vision of the situation. As always, this is my commentary weekly commentary by pez 12-8-03 After reading the article by Mr. Collier in the Breathitt County Voice this past week, I thought maybe his article should have read as follows: (Of course, with all due fairness I will e-mail them a copy of this commentary for their editorial page.) Local media. When we utter or hear these words, we immediately think of our favorite outlet. Here in Breathitt County we are blessed with many of them, including radio, television, newspapers and e-news. I would surmise that everyone has their favorite which they would rather peruse, listen to or watch and would come to believe the one thing, I am sure, that everyone agrees on is this; we enjoy all of them. If we get wind of a story that interest us, we turn to the media outlet at hand whether it be JHS-TV, BHS-TV, WYMT, the Lexington or Cable channels, WEKG, WJSN, Breathitt County Voice, Breathitt-Online, Jackson Times, Lexington Herald or the Internet itself. As you can see, there are many media outlets that we can access to get the information we need or want. I know of people that will drop everything to watch the Six O'Clock News from Hazard, or listen to the Trading Post. Others subscribe to the local papers, along with the Herald, so as to insure that they get their weekly and daily news while others will be at their radio at exactly 5:00 PM to get the local news on a daily basis. Others will make it a point to stop and pick their paper up on Wednesday and Friday at local stores or drive thru town and support the local people selling them on the street. Many people I have talked with say getting on the Internet and going directly to breathittonline.com is a daily morning ritual while others check it 3 or 4 times a day. Of course the Opinion Boards of the area are popular sites with many. Even though we do not live in a big city where major news is constantly happening, we are blessed with many media outlets that will provide us with the information we crave, most at a fingers touch. The best thing about these media outlets is that there is something for everyone from the young to the the young at heart. Local school news, business news, local sports, weather and organization news, political news and of course, commentary are all within reach from these outlets. So, the next time someone ask you what is going on or what has been happening, introduce them to one of these local media outlets and maybe you will open up a whole new world to them. You see, not everyone has access to all of these outlets and together they provide the information to everyone within Breathitt County. I would ask everyone to support all of these media outlets because they all serve their purpose by each one reaching out to the people of Breathitt County As always, this is just my commentary |
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