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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Fluehrs of Snellville
enjoy return to Jamaica
By Chris Fluehr
President
Quantum National Bank
Special to GwinnettForum.com
(Editor's note: Listening to Chris Fluehr
of Snellville tell about a recent vacation to Jamaica was exciting.
Chris lived in Jamaica for three years, so we asked him to give
us insight about this vacation.-eeb)
APRIL 22, 2003 -- Jamaica has not changed much over the last 25
years----in the ways that are of interest to a tourist. For us,
that was good news. Ann and I recently returned after spending a
week in Port Antonio, and we can report that the island is as beautiful
as ever. Contrary to a lot of occasional negative gossip one hears,
the people are as friendly and as accommodating as ever.
As we lived there for three years in the mid 70's, I'm was not
interested so much about moving around the island. Even so, we put
over 425 miles on a rental car over a week. Jamaicans still drive
on the left side of the road, but I'm happy to say on somewhat better
roads than they used to be. There are still lots of foot traffic
and potholes, but roads are fairly easily negotiated at averages
speeds of 30-40 mph when in relatively small automobiles.
Port Antonio, on the eastern part of the island, is lush, tropical,
and surprisingly, mountainous. I had remembered the Blue Mountains
got to over 4,000 feet, but had forgotten that the peak of Blue
Mountain is 7,400 feet! On a driving trip to the eastern tip of
the island to see sugar cane fields, we had beautiful views of the
colorful Caribbean to our left, and the Blue Mountain to our right.
It was "eye candy" on that day, but far different from
what most people think of as "eye candy."
The best thing I can say about the trip is that when Day Seven
rolled around and it was time to leave, I found myself wishing we
could stay another week! We have already planned a return trip for
a week in September. Already I have a list of items I still want
to do, and things to see, left over from this trip.
The villa we stayed in came with a chef, housekeeper and butler.
Surprisingly, we kept them pretty occupied. The butler proved to
be an adept fisherman, and took Ann fishing, while I paddled around
our lagoon in a kayak through crystal clear water in depths up to
20 feet.
We enjoyed freshly cooked jerk pork for lunch three of the seven
days. We had inexpensively prepared grilled lobster and other variations
of grilled and fried fish. In Jamaican, they now serve many items
called "jerk"-chicken and sausage. While tasty, they are
still not as good as the original jerk pork with Scotch-bonnet pepper,
a really hot seasoning.
I've only seen pictures of the other islands of the Caribbean,
but can easily recommend Jamaica for its size, variety of things
to do, and pure beauty of contrast between sea and mountains. There
are many beautiful rivers and waterfalls to enjoy in the eastern
and central parts of the island. The adventuresome will try the
native cooking and be glad they did.
For our part, we can't wait to go back.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
What
if Saddam Hussein were merely a con guy, too?
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com
APRIL 22, 2003 -- Consider this: is it possible that instead of
being merely a determined, power-hungry despot, always frothing
off at the mouth and making threatening diatribes, in addition to
this, could it be that Saddam Hussein was also a con man?
After all, none other that George W. Bush himself thought enough
of the Hussein stances to think that Iraq had "weapons of mass
destruction." Saddam probably did, and aided our enemies, too,
though so far none weapons or major connections to terrorists, have
turned up.
But think for a moment: what if Saddam really did not have all
that many ways to inflict inhuman pain on his enemies? What if instead
he had a big dose of braggadocio, maintaining that he was about
to inflict horrendous punishment in all sorts of outlawed ways,
when instead, he had little? It would have been a good way to impress
his Arab brothers, and cost nothing. Certainly all of us have seen
people who promised more than they delivered.
That would explain one aspect of the Iraq war: not finding, so
far, any "weapons of mass destruction."
We know that in earlier war encounters, Iraq has used such grievous
agents as gas against an enemy to bring about victory for his troops.
Just ask the Kurds.
But gassing an enemy is a far different aspect than launching an
atomic bomb, or even having the missiles to wage such a war, or
even aiding a foe of the United States. So far, there have been
no major caches of "weapons of mass destruction" turning
up. Certainly, there have been instances finding conventional military
weapons, which we assumed all along that Iraq had. Nor do we have
major links to enemies of this country.
But "weapons of mass destruction?" Not yet.
So about all we have is the ranting of Saddam, as interpreted by
the United States, and the conclusion drawn by our government, and
extended by the President, that we had to step into Iraq because
of the threats that nation posed.
To continue the argument, what if the hollow words of Hussein had
been his major weapon? If that was the case, he fooled the mass
of the American intelligence agencies. They thought, at least, that
he was a formidable force, needing to be reckoned with.
If anything, the con man Saddam Hussein may have been too good
for his own country. Could it have been that Saddam thought he could
get away with threats and not face retribution? But then when the
president swallowed these threats, hook, line and sinker, Hussein
was in a pickle. Maybe he couldn't lead inspectors to weapons of
mass destruction, for he really did not have them!
With President Bush telling Saddam to produce these weapons, or
face invasion, what was Hussein to do? He had put himself in a position
to where he had convinced the world he was a bad boy, and a real
threat to the world. But even though he wasn't, what to do now?
The upshot was a war that Iraq possibly figured would never happen,
if they had no "weapons of mass destruction."
Saddam might have convinced the world, including his own people,
that his threats were meaningful, where they were really meaningless.
Could that have been the reason we went to Iraq?
Naw. Too simple. Unless Saddam is a better con man than we realized.
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UPCOMING
Pianist to be featured
with Gwinnett Philharmonic
Local pianist Gary Menzies will present a piano concert of
classic favorites and a few surprises with the Gwinnett Philharmonic
Orchestra on April 25 at 8 p.m. at the Gwinnett Performing Arts
Center. Last year, Mr. Menzies was a guest soloist with the
orchestra. Several patrons indicated they would enjoy hearing
a full concert from this talented musician.
The Performing Arts Center is part of the Gwinnett Civic and
Cultural Center and is located on Sugarloaf Parkway, near I-85,
in Duluth.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and from the Gwinnett
Civic and Cultural Box Office at 770-623-4966, extension 3 ($10-$29.50).
To save handling fees, visit the Performing Arts Center Box
Office in person at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. Visit
the Orchestra online at www.gwinnettphilharmonic.org.
Tour of Gardens to benefit Cooperative Ministry
Eight gardens, from pond gardens to pass-along-plant gardens,
in Norcross, Berkeley Lake, Peachtree Corners and Duluth will
be open on Saturday May 17, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
A $3 donation for admittance to these gardens will benefit
the Norcross Cooperative Ministries. For ticket information
and map, email garendthyme@attbi.com
or 678-458-6032
Also included in the tour will be the Norcross Garden Clubhouse.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Happy thought with
Legislature winding down
"No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature
is in session."
-- Judge Gideon J. Tucker.
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