Getting It Right - Birds Please Fly Away!

May 22, 2008

"The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions".
A few years ago I bought a bird feeder. I proudly hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. "What a beauty of a bird feeder it is", I thought as I filled it lovingly with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. We enjoyed watching the birds feast and enjoy our gift.
But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, and the table... everywhere!
Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb my wife and me every time we came near, and often tried to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.
And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I come out and fill the feeder when it got low on food.
After a while, I couldn’t even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio.
Soon, the back yard was like it used to be.... quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.
Now let’s see. Our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, and free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen.
Then the illegal aliens came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments began housing up to five families; you now have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor because the hospital is full of people waiting for free care; your child’s school is graded poorly because over half the students do not speak English.
Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to ‘press one’ to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than ‘Old Glory’ are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties and at times even burning my flag.
It is just my opinion, but maybe it’s time for the government to take down the bird feeder.
If you agree, tell your congressman; if not, continue cleaning up the poop!
(This tale was modified from a story sent to me via e-mail.)
Rudiments- Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning:
♦ Comprehensive Land Use Plan; On Monday I attended the first public hearing concerning needed amendments to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan that was approved by the State and implemented several years ago. Essentially this plan takes significant amounts of property rights away from heavily taxed individual property owners, and places these rights in the hands of Big Brother Government so that he can properly manage future growth, protect the environment, and look after the "common good". They purposely made the amending process difficult, complex, and lengthy and still left final approval in the hands of a State agency.
The plan also carefully details requirements for the evil developers to meet as government sprinkles bureaucratic "holy water" before each step they take. I decided that the group at the meeting needed to broaden their perspective relating to the processes they were involved in, so I asked the following question, "Why are we all so concerned about abuses by these property owners and developers, and are legislating each move they make…..for the sake of the environment and the future….when we all drive by the dolomite mines that are raping the land with no local regulation as they suck minerals out of our soil? Could it be because they had enough money to lobby at the State level to influence enough votes to exempt them from our Comprehensive Land Use Plan?" Several heads shook in agreement, and no one had a reasonable answer……..It’s A Little Rotten, Folks.
♦ Tweaking The Sign Ordinance; In my opinion the Marianna sign ordinance needs more than "tweaking", it needs a couple of turns to the left to loosen it a little. Who is to say that a flat plastic sign is better than a well conceived "back lighted" sign? What does it hurt for a well designed sidewalk "A" frame sign to display a store’s daily specials while the store is open? Do computerized signs really distract drivers?
I believe that those who wrote the existing strict ordinance have drawn too many government pay checks or enjoyed living off their inheritance or their wife’s inheritance and have never experienced scraping out a living from the daily receipts from a retail operation. You can bet they have always signed their paychecks on the back instead of the front and back. They have never struggled to meet a payroll, they have always been part of the payroll. Commissioners Milton and Clay both boycotted the sign ordinance meeting, probably indicating where much of the anti-business attitude is coming from.
For those that think business signs are ugly, I say the signs are not nearly as ugly as an empty store building with the front windows taped over. Marianna had better realize they are in direct competition with the emerging retail area in "Malloyville" at I-10 before it is too late. If you were going to open a small store, where would you open it?
♦ Buildings; Well we are in the process of building a $4,000,000 Emergency Operations Center, and a $11,000,000 new County Health Center while the old Wal-Mart building and the old high school set dark, empty and slowly deteriorating. New buildings are nice, but if the bureaucrats were running their departments as a business and were having to take the money our of their own personal money……they would be clamoring to renovate the available space. To them it is merely free grant money….not someone’s hard earned tax payments.
Well folks, it is time for me to lay down the pen, say my prayers, and go to bed. Maybe the world will look better tomorrow. Meanwhile, if possible, take time to get involved in the next public hearing on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Do this and you will be "Getting It Right".