I say major 'kudo's' to you Timberly (and I've meant to say it before) for having the backbone to put your name behind your opinions...and not just about random 'daily' things, but serious issues that anyone could guess will probably bring you hate mail. It takes chutzpah! (and a backbone)

I have noticed that people in this county DO seem much more fearful to express themselves publicly. But, it is also noticeable that there seems to be a huge amount of local folks, that can carry a grudge like an olympic torch (and pass it onward to others with equal zeal). Seems like once someone has made up their mind about you (and labeled you) whether or not they've met you personally- they stick to their impression, no matter how wrong it maybe. Maybe that is what makes people fearful to speak out with their name behind it? Then again, with hate mail, it is just cowardice.

In any event, many of us DO hope you will maintain the 'nerve' to speak your mind publicly on hot topics. Don't let intolerance of your view points stop you from stating them...that is afterall, what the hate mail and rude comments are meant to do; intimidate you to 'shut you up'. Let that be your fuel to continue! ;)

I must have missed out on the public crucifixion in an earlier blog. Sorry about that, there is really no reason for that to occur. I've enjoyed your articles and comments.

It is tough to get good conversations going on religion however, without the fanatical passions causing hurt and pain. I wouldn't take any of it personally though.

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." Blaise Pascal

I could only imagine the persecution I would endure speaking out aginst the powers that be using my real name. Let alone the finacial punishment our business would incur.

I wont lie. I use an anonymous name becuase Greene County is a small community and many times the topics directly effect me and mine. I fear retaliation or "drama" over what essentially constitutes a difference of opinion. Many closed minded people, probably myself inculded, cannot just agree to disagree.

I love free speech! I think a few people on here do know who I am. However, I remain annonymous as my children go to school here and all my family live and work in this town, so to save them from any backlash to my comments and opinion...I am able say want I want with a little "security." If you see me in person, I am not shy with my opinion...I am actually very outspoken, even in "real life" I have a very forward personality. There is a lot more I would love to debate on here, but I don't know if ya'll are ready for it... :) I love the blogs and quite honestly, I am glad I don't know who all the posters are, it is after all, the beauty of the Internet.

The internet is the ultimate in escapism.

Hey Chris, I need to renegotiate my contract. :>)

Well, it may be something worth considering that if people in general-in daily life= are afraid to turn up a a meeting and speak up, afraid to put their name on a petition, afraid to just make their thoughts known, then this maybe a major factor in why this community isn't growing and prospering. Try getting a group of people to attend a meeting to make their voices heard, even on something that is important to them.....and you'll be sitting there alone.

People say we all need to be involved to make this place better, but if getting involved may bring personal repercussions, then that may explain why we have so many unhappy people, not involved in making the place better, but not willing to speak up and give their views.

I've seen this play out a thousand times since I moved here. Someone asked me recently what I'd learned after living here 10 years, I said, "what I've learned is to keep your head down, keep your mouth shut, go with the flow and don't rock the boat. AT least, if you want to 'get along". But those are the things that NEED to happen for a community to prosper and grow. The boat needs rocked and the 'rocker' not 'shunned' for it.

This is a great place to live and raise a family. I have lived many places but we chose to live in Greene county for many reasons.

First, the cost of living is very low.

Second, the people are friendly and accomodating.

Third, most people here have a good work ethic.

Fourth, the church to tavern ratio is extremely high(especially compared to Dubois County). This is a ranking that generally tells one about the general attitude of the population towards God and the vices.

Fifth, people are very generous and willing to help others, especially in times that are tough.

Sixth, we love the scenery.

Seventh, we don't have the stresses inherent to the cities(population, traffic, etc.)

There are many more reasons why one should live here. Being anonymous in this blog is really not that big of a deal. I would hate to think that people can not be themselves either anonymously or publicly. Usually, people who are negative are pessimistic due to choice. If that is you, then try waking up tomorrow looking forward to the day and people you will encounter.

Simmons, I thought you liked the winters as it gives your torso a break from swinging the golf clubs. <:-)

"not think about the children who suffer horribly, the animals that are regularly starved to death, ...."

We evidently have some serious problems, but I am not aware of them. If these problems exist then they need to be brought to the attention of local law enforcement. I'm getting old and my children have been raised and are, for the most part, on their own, so I don't have a lot of involvement with kids anymore. Has it deteriorated that much since my kids were in school? Are there cases of child abuse in this county? What do you mean by suffering horribly? Where are these animals that are starving to death? I would be more than willing to do something about this, if I witnessed any of this.

I'm not "pretending the problems don't exist", I just really didn't know that they do exist. What do you mean by "on the verge of homelessness"? Do you know people in this situation?

If you would meet me and take me to these children being treated horribly, I will contact the County Prosecutor and make sure that action is taken. Why haven't you done this? Child abuse is a criminal act and I think that it is just as criminal to observe this and do nothing about it.

STILLHOPEFUL, I think part of what you may perceive as the "good old boys club" is actually a devoted group of people who help their community as often as they can. No doubt, they are getting tired from bearing the burden of the community though. What is most needed here is more volunteers to help in the community without wanting to know what is in it for them. The simple fact that your neighbor may benefit should be good enough of a reason to help. Time after time, though, it's the same core group of people involved... not because they're trying to take over, but because they're the only ones that will step up to the plate.

Raven- I see your point and agree totally. It does seem to appear to be the same small core group who 'get involved' and they are NOT who I refer to as the 'good old boys'. I think of that group as the 'seat fillers' who take up space, add nothing to the effort, and generally are added to things as a guarenteed 'yes man'. No boat rocking, follow the leader, ask no questions. Add their voice to resisting change.

I can understand fully how the core group of people who actually TRY to make positive change, are fully exhausted. If everyone carried a tiny bit, a few people wouldn't have to carry a huge load and more things would be more achievable.

Simmons- Are you unaware that Greene County has one of the highest child abuse/neglect rates in the entire state? One problem is the state/fed laws are weak in protecting them, the minimum standard of care before intevention can happen is wildly low. Just read through the paper on the sexual abuse cases reported. Recently you have the mother locking her infant in a car trunk 'for attention'. There are some MAJOR mental health needs in this county.

I'd suggest if you really want the details and want to ACT for kids, you get involved in the CASA program. A volunteer program to be a court appointed advocate to speak on the childs behalf. I suggest you'll need a strong stomach to read the case files. The state/fed objectives are ALWAYS to get kids back with their families even if the molestor/abuser is still there. I'd say the system is broken. Does that mean we should give up?

I'm not dissing the efforts some people ARE making, but as Raven noted, it's too few people trying to do too much. While the rest of us sit back and enjoy our personal bubble of paradise. Toys for Tots and such is a WONDERFUL thing..but that kind of involvement is needed all year long.

I'm all for enjoying life and looknig for the bright side. You don't have to give every spare second to a 'cause' but too many residents give NOTHING to any cause. What I don't understand is how more people could NOT see the intense problems and want to get involved and help solve them. Most of them are reported in the news, afterall. We can't all just shake our heads and say, 'thats a shame, someone should do somethingn', and then go back to our T.V. or personal hobbies.

As for starving animals, take a drive. Take a camera. Make note of how many animals are chained out with no food, no water, no adequate shelter. With 'winter fur' right now, you may not see the bones as prominently, but they are being starved and neglected. Horses particularly are suffering with the hay shortage right now, and they are not 'legally' required to have a shelter. They are considered livestock along with cows and such, who likewise are not required to have shelter.

I've brought these and more local problems to many peoples attention. I've gotten involved in trying to help in many, many, many cases of many different issues. I volunteer my time more the 60 hours a week to help make a difference. I guess I"m one of the people getting tired of pulling the load when more people could make it easier on everyone.

No one should even NEED someone else to take them by the hand and point out the extreme suffering and problems that NEED ATTENTION. The response I usually hear is, 'there are too many problems, and there is really not much we can do about most of it'. I say 'B.S'. If more people got involved, we could move mountains. If this county mobilized to demand changes on a state level, on many issues, it could happen. But many resident are far too involved in their own personal lives and frankly, appear to be too selfish to get involved and get their hands dirty, so to speak.

There are different issues that are different priorities for all of us. BUt we all need to be involved in volunteering IN SOMETHING to make a difference on a REGULAR basis, on the issues that matter most to us. Being an 'activist' is a good thing..that means you are ACTIVELY trying to make positive changes. This county has precious few of those, it seems. In fact, I hear people use that as a derogatory , dismissive word, "Oh, he/she is an activist' pay them no mind.

The few can't do it alone. The few will burn out and go away. Then there will be no one trying to make a difference. The icing on the cake of occassional efforts is nice, but the cake itself is rotting.

I'm a realist who is 'stillhopeful'. But you can't fix what you don't acknowledge is broken.

You are 150% right Raven!!!! I agree, I agree, I agree!! The biggest mobilization of ACTION you see usually is people 'coming out of the woodwork' to STOP something others have worked to try and make better! It's maddening. I read all kinds of things starting, think "GREAT! Awesome", things one wouldn't think could POSSIBLY be objected to......just to watch people appear to object, with no better suggestions.

I almost hate to say it, but as the famous quote of "the people get the government they deserve" (i.e. voting or not, demanding accountabliity or not, etc.) So does this county seem to 'get what it deserves' which consistently, thanks to the naysayers, seems to be NOTHING. I don't understand it, I truly don't. I've never seen a community fight harder to stop progress in my life.

The majority of people I've met working their hardest to improve the county, (and I'm not saying ALL...just those I've spoken to) are people who are not 'life long' residents of this area, who have moved here or have at least lived elsewhere long enough to see the POSSIBILITIES of making things better, and that it CAN be done.....but only if you find a way to reach those people who fear change so direly they'd rather live in a decaying society then take some chances and try new things.

SO that is the question. How do you reach and change the 'it can't be done' mindset??

PS, Stillhopeful, it's very difficult to treat the disease called "apathy".

Excellent! "Who Move My Cheese?" would be the perfect book!

I would also argue that if you do the same things over and over again, that you don't necessarily get the same outcome. I think you actually get less and less and less. For example, observe some festivals that are the same thing every year, and you'll note the crowd size dwindles with every year...

So how can we make a better effort to make sure all our elected officials and decision makers are the most progressive minded? How do we get out some of the long term 'seat warmers' who get voted in repeatedly on name recognition, but appear to sleep through meetings and wake up long enough to vote the way their buddy/party mate did, without even understanding their decisions?

I recall having a perfectly logical and motivated official agree with a suggested change I felt strongly about but backed down because too many 'good old boys' were complaining about changing anything.

How do we find officials who don't let the fear of not getting re-elected affect them?

We need people who will jump in with both feet to see progress made without fear of reprisal and maybe once it's done/ goals met, the 'naysayers' will see they had nothing to fear afterall.

If I had played along all these years and not ever 'rocked the boat' I'd consider that. Don't forget I've PUT my name behind my opinions and efforts here for many years, publicly. And been branded for it by those same fearful people. If I could offer the county the golden goose the 'good old boys' would kill it before it could lay an egg! Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face seems to be pretty common around these parts. I've met people would won't take help from someone else because they are still holding a grudge about something that transpired between them in grade school! Seriously! They would not let someone help them who could because they were still p.o'd 40 years later. Timberly would have a better shot at getting elected! haha (Just kidding Timberly, that wasn't a dig! ;)

Dont get me wrong though...more money in a few more pockets will definitely help things.

Ah, America...are you the last one standing out there protecting your still from the 'revenuers'? That is the image I get from your posts.

Your opinion is the perfect 'in a nutshell' example of what the problem is with this county mindset.

When something is terribly wrong, and a living thing, a child, a wife, a person, an animal is suffering needlessly at the hands of an abuser, society is an OBLIGATION to help them. Much to the abusers chagrin.

With Personal Freedom comes Personal RESPONSIBILITY. If what you do on your property, then drains off and poisons MY property, (figuratively or literally)then where is MY personal freedom and liberty? We all have certain rights and when people get out of line with theirs and then start stepping on MY rights and freedoms....then if the government doesn't address it, who will? Shall we harken back to being a backwoods, Hatfields and McCoys system?

Can you see that some of the things your rail against (Septic regulations?!?!?!?) are in place to insure a healthy environment for all to live in???

It looks like in general, you like things the way they are, but you are fighting to remain living in the past. You can't stop time. The furture is coming whether or not you like it. It may entail giving up a little personal freedom to help the greater good, and that is what CIVILIZED societies do.

At Stillhopeful's suggestion, I began some research this morning, first by checking out CASA, "I'd suggest if you really want the details and want to ACT for kids, you get involved in the CASA program. A volunteer program to be a court appointed advocate to speak on the childs behalf."

After reading the information from the National Web Site, I visited the Greene County CASA site to find out how to volunteer and found:

"There are currently no opportunities for this organization."

Why wouldn't they be seeking volunteers?

Simmons, there was an ad for CASA in the newspaper a while back. My guess is they put the group of people who signs up through training all at once to achieve consistency and efficiency, but that's only my guess.

Good questions raven. All of those issues effect the lives and pocket books of a lot of good greene county citizens directly.

Less regulation is good for small business and easier on property taxes.

Hey Raven, great idea. Can we at least get a donation from the paper to our favorite charities as 'payment's for these 'ideas'!? Ha!

america, are you Snuffy SMith, by chance? haha Glad you saw the humor.

In response to Stillhopeful's comments:

"I volunteer full time with my main charity of choice, often overtime, and do as much as possible for others I'm passionate about. 365 days a year, including time on every holiday, nights, weekends, because if I don't do it, who will?"

How do you do this? If you don't have a paying job, how do you pay your bills? Were you just born with a silver spoon in your mouth or do you have a sponsor or significant other out there earning a wage to allow you to do this?

"So yes, clearly, I am p.o.'d that more people don't fulfill their 'christian obligation' by helping more in their communities. They do their PAID jobs, golf or shop on weekends, make time for their 'me time'."

Who provided you with the qualifications to designate what my "christian obligation" or anyone else's should be?

Uh-oh, I must have hit a raw nerve, Simmons? Why so hostile?

I'm no bibical scholar but I think if you use the Bible as a guideline, "helping the poor" is mentioned more then most other things for a 'christian to do'. You wouldn't designate that a 'christian obligation"? What ARE a christians obligations then? Certainly 'loving your neighbor as yourself" is pretty clear? Wouldn't that mean helping others as you would help yourself? Depending on the specific issues in one's community, I would think it would be pretty clear that if any living thing is suffering, it deserves a compassionate person's help.

I do not imply that everyone should be able to volunteer full time,but surely any 'religously focused' person should commit SOME TIME to helping society in some regard? Not because they 'have to', but because a true christian, in MY opinion, would be led to. Regardless of the method which allows me more time to give, the point is I give as much as I can to what I feel compelled in. I could sit back and wallow in self indulgence and laziness, practice hobbies or sports, or I could apply myself to a passion and a mission to help where I can. I chose the latter. I simply wish more people would and yes, I think people who claim to be 'religous', 'christian', whatever, would do more to serve God to help others, then not.

Society, in general, as a whole has convinced itself it 'deserves' to keep it's free time for itself and hope that someone else will come along and 'do something'. It's an easy trap to fall into.

I do think if anyone is going to claim to be a 'christian' they should be moved to do good works, regardless of whether or not good works are required to get your golden ticket into heaven.

First off, let me just state that im not worried about posting my name to this response, my log , "tdavid" is for travis david, im a sports writer for this lovely paper, talk to anyone who knows me and youll quickly learn that im one of the most opinionated persons that you will meet, i dont have a prob with posting my name, i welcome anyone who wants to comment, thats just who I am.

anyways.......I just read this blog and started reading some of the comments and the first few were on subject matter, then I shifted towards the bottom, and somehow we went from being anonymous about our comments all the way down to talking about "christian obligations"????? hmmm.....cant wait to read your next blog tim!!!!! keep up the good work!!!!

Yes, it has indeed morphed off topic but it can be traced back to the topic. I too wish Timberly would crank out a few more! SOON!!!

Well, you missed my point entirely TDavid. We went from the repercussions of expressing one's opinion publicly in the area, (with your face and name behind it). We got off on this tangent when people were commenting that this county is 'paradise' and people are helpful and help each other out.

I've said repeatedly, I don't expect anyone to give as much time as I do, but if EVERYONE did just a smidge, even an hour a week working to improve our community in some volunteer way, we would see massive results without a core group of people burning themselves out, while other citizens do nothing to help improve anything.

Perhaps that is the bigger question, if anyone could ever do a thorough survey. What percentage of this county's residents volunteer their time in some way to improve life in this county? Sorry, but I don't think it's too many. My guess would be maybe...20 or 30% tops.

Talking in circles like this is usually what derails most initial efforts to achieve anything positive, anyway, clearly, because one can't discuss improving this community and WHAT/WHY it needs improved, without offending many of it's residents.

I do think there is much to be said for social lubricant! Can we get freebies at the county meetings? Make mine a Margarita!

I think the 'leadership' here is reflecting the majority of the voters who want NO CHANGE, no matter what.

How do we change the attitudes of the people who fear change and progression so much, in order to get them to support a 'change candidate', for a change! ?

We need a lot of change because I don't think people see how really close to the line of total collapse we are all playing here. If it weren't for the Crane base with the people they employ, the contractors they pay, and the money they bring in to the area, there would be nothing but tumbleweeds blowing through southern Indiana.