"Listening In"

The Nankipooh Enquirer "Covers the South like Sorghum Syrup"

P. O. Box 1849

Nankipooh, Georgia

Editor in Chief: Colonel Bascomb Biggers

Ace Reporter : Scoop Biggers

bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net

DATELINE June12, 2013:

"Listening In"

By: Scoop Biggers

 

 

When I was just a kid, growing up on the old farm down in Nankipooh,our first telephone was a party line shared with the Smiths, Cartlidges, and Rogers families, and you knew whose phone was ringing by the number of rings. The Biggers phone was three rings, and the Rogers was four, Smiths two, and the Cartlidges was one.

 

You had to listen pretty close to hear the number of rings so you didn't answer somebody else's phone, and you couldn't make a call going out if somebody was already on the line. Of course, there were those who listened in on other folk's calls, and since everybody knew each other there were very few secrets kept. As a matter of fact I believe that Grandma Biggers invented the first "Conference Call", since she and Aunt Helen Rogers, and Mrs. Evelyn Smith, and Mrs. Dora Cartlidge used to all get on the phone together every Wednesday at 2 pm to discuss the grocery shopping for the next Thursday. Of course there were very few secrets in those days, but it didn't matter because everybody knew each other. However if you had a piece of news that you did not want spread around, you had best not talk about it on the telephone.

 

We have come a long ways since those days of the party line, but maybe not as far as we might think. It appears that today we have a lot more to worry about, than having Dora Cartlidge find out that we thought the hat she wore to church last Sunday was kinda funny looking. For instance if you have some criticism of the government, you best not discuss it with your brother on your cell phone, since you might end up on a list somewhere, if your call happens to be one of the billion or so that the government is listening in on.

 

I did not mind putting up with the party line back in the 50's, but I draw the line at some contractor for the CIA monitoring my political opinions. I believe that if this were put up to a vote, the majority of Americans would agree with me. Back in the day, that would have included Mr. Washington, Mr. Jefferson, and Mr. Franklin. I hesitate to think what Mr. Patrick Henry might have to say about this. Folks, this really doesn't sound like America, does it?

 

"Just my opinion"

 

Scoop Biggers

 

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"Law and Order"

The Nankipooh Enquirer "Covers the South like Sorghum Syrup" P. O. Box 1849 Nankipooh, Georgia Editor in Chief: Colonel Bascomb Biggers Ace Reporter : Scoop Biggers  bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net  DATELINE March 11, 2013: "Law and Order" By: Scoop Biggers I have been thinking quite a bit of late about all of the press the various local sheriff's department have been getting, and that applies whether you are talking about Nankipooh, or up near the Nantahala.  It seems that during hard times ,citizens are more concerned than ever about "law and order".   It reminds me of my own experience in law enforcement.  I was a member of the School Safety Patrol back when I was in the sixth grade at Nankipooh Elementary School.  As we called it back then, I was a Patrol Boy, in charge of the biggest street crossing in front of the school, which was the Fortson Road, a Muscogee County main thoroughfare headed north out of Columbus on its way past Nankipooh toward Fortson, Georgia.   One day when I was "on patrol", two boys crossed the road north of my crossing, where there was no cross-walk, which was strictly against the rules.  I raced up to them, and after a brief struggle, I was able to "collar" them and haul them back to the school. There I brought them before the Vice Principal, "Old Lady" Powell, who was also the sixth grade teacher, but was in charge since the principal had gone home for the day.  After learning that I had used un-due force in apprehending the two suspects, she released them and took my Patrol Boy's badge from me.   The next day I was arraigned before Nellie Smith the School Principal. Nellie told me that she was going to return my badge, but that I had been up for promotion to sergeant, and under the circumstances, and also to appease "Old Lady" Powell, the promotion would be given to someone else.   Now when she heard that my badge had been returned, "Old Lady" Powell was outraged, and declared that as extra punishment, I would not be allowed to appear on the local TV station the following week, where our sixth grade class was scheduled to preform a demonstration of square dancing.  Now this was quite a blow to me, since the class had been rehearsing for this big event for more than six months.  After that, my career in law enforcement was never the same.  I was bitter because everyone in the sixth grade was on TV except me, and I never made officer in the Safety Patrol either.  Who knows, if I had made sergeant in the sixth grade, I might have been promoted to lieutenant, or maybe even captain in the seventh grade.   Now I am reminded of this story because I realize how hard it is to enforce the law, and stay within the boundaries which maintain the safety of the citizens, and also insure the peace.  However, I remind those in law enforcement of their responsibility to do their job according to the law, and also in the best interest of the citizens.  After all, you never know when "Old Lady" Powell might be watching, and come for your badge.  She was called "Old Lady" Powell because she was the meanest teacher in Muscogee County.  But who knows, she might also have been the best teacher in the county.

"Just my opinion"

Scoop Biggers

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The Federal Reserve: "The Big Dog"

The Nankipooh Enquirer "Covers the South like Sorghum Syrup" P. O. Box 1849 Nankipooh, Georgia Editor in Chief: Colonel Bascomb Biggers Ace Reporter : Scoop Biggers  bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net  DATELINE February 13, 2013: "The Big Dog" By: Scoop Biggers Most of us are used to the "Big Dog" getting what he wants.  In this case the big dog is the United States Federal Reserve Bank, or as it is often called, "The Fed".  My question these days is, "How much does the Big Dog want, and will there be any room left for the little dog under the house?"   The Federal Reserve Bank was created back in 1913 in response to several economic crisises which were at that time called "Panics".  The big one of its day was the Panic of 1907.  Today's sequel to the Panic of 1907 and the Great Depression of 1929, is "The Great Recession".    Many things are the same in today's crisis as were true in these two events of the past, but one aspect is very different.  The Fed's actions over the last several years have controlled both inflation and deflation, but have also made it impossible for the average citizen to earn any money on his savings.  At the same time the two big problems which are the results of this "panic" remain unchecked.  One would be high unemployment with stagnant job growth, coupled with an anemic real estate market which helped start the recession to begin with.  This makes it hard for that average "Joe" to do his part in helping stimulate the economy.   The present "Big Shot" at the offices of the "Big Dog" is Ben Shalom Bernanke author of the "Bernanke Doctrine" which details his view of how to run the country's finances.  In his doctrine the Big Dog states that to combat deflation he would "#3 - lower interest rates - all the way down to 0".  Well folks, he has done that for about three years now and we still ain't out of the woods.   Unemployment figures are stagnant at a rate of between 7.5% and 8.4%, when it is acknowledged that a healthy economy requires an unemployment rate of below 6%.  The housing market continues to flounder, and we are running an inflation rate of 1.5%, up to about 2%.  Meanwhile I was down at my local Credit Union to roll over a Certificate of Deposit, and the best they could offer up was .035% for a year, which means that a year from now my money will be worth at least 1% less than it is today.   Now my problem with this is that I know that a lot of big dogs are eating pretty good these days, while us little dogs are just getting the scraps and the bones.  As long as the "Big Dog" has his way, there is no end in sight to our share getting smaller and smaller.   I have heard just about all I can stand about corporations which are "too big to fail", and about folks who can't pay their mortgage because they bit off more than they could chew!  I don't work for GM, and I don't have a loan from Fanny Mae, but I do pay my bills, and my taxes, and I try to put a little aside for when I am old.  The guy that just got beat running for President did have one thing right.  The rich and the poor both have safety nets, but us folks in the middle, carrying the country on our backs, got nobody looking out for us despite all the campaign rhetoric about being for the middle class.  Oh, and don't talk to me about entitlements, that money is mine, since I put in 50 years of hard labor paying into the Social Security Savings Account, which I was required to do by law, not by choice.   What about it "Uncle Ben, the Big Dog", you think you could toss a bone our way?  How about fixing it where I at least don't go backwards with the little dab of money I am trying to put aside for when I am too old to carry GM around on my back all day long!

"Just my opinion"

Scoop Biggers

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"Just Wondering"

The Nankipooh Enquirer
P. O. Box 1849
Nankipooh, Georgia
Editor in Chief: Colonel Bascomb Biggers
Ace Reporter : Scoop Biggers
bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net




DATELINE SEPTEMBER 25, 2012:
"Just Wondering"
By: Scoop Biggers

I have been hearing quite a bit in the news lately about this 47% of the population not paying any taxes. Now it is not my intention to make any kind of statement regarding values or responsibility, or even right or wrong, but I do have a question about the math. I have also heard that 3% of the population pays about 35% of the taxes, so does that mean that the other 50% of the population is paying 65% of the taxes in our country? Again math is not my best subject, and I do believe that "figures lie, and liars figure", but if these numbers are even close to the truth, then that means that the 50% who are paying 65% of all the taxes, better have 65% of the money, or we are in big trouble. I am sure that the 3% have more than 35% of the money, so I am not sure how the math works on that either.

I believe that we could all agree that evryone who has a stake in this country ought to pay at least a little bit of the bill, so I think that this just points to how badly we need tax reform in this country. I believe that fair is fair, and that everyone should have to help out to make things as equal as possible, but life is not about equal. Life is about some having more ability or even more luck than others, and therefore reaping more rewards than others. A few hundred years ago, we had an experiment in America where the wealth was distributed equally and each received according to their needs, and each contributed according to their ability. Well it was called Jamestown, and it failed miserably. Speculation was that there are always some folks who will not work if they don't have to, and some who will work even harder when you take things away from them. However, the work of a few can support only some, but not all.

So what percent of the population do you fall into? I think I am in the 50% who pay at least 65% of the bill, and I know that those of us in that category do not possess 65% of the wealth. So my last question is, "how long before things really break down?"

"Just my opinion"

Scoop Biggers

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"Dawson County - Now and Then"

The Nankipooh Enquirer
P. O. Box 1849
Nankipooh, Georgia
Editor in Chief: Colonel Bascomb Biggers
Ace Reporter : Scoop Biggers
bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net





DATELINE December 3, 2012:
"Dawson County - Now and Then"
By: Scoop Biggers

I was looking at the results of the recent elections, and it got me to thinking about how much things have changed in the last ten or fifteen years. Take the election for sheriff in Dawson County, Georgia, for instance. Sheriff Billy Carlisle was re-elected with more than 75% of the vote, after fifteen years in office. Now I'm not saying that Sheriff Carlisle hasn't done a good job, but look how different things are today from when he was first elected in 1997.

In 1997 the population of Dawson County was about 12,500 folks. Today there are around 22,500 people in the county, for an increase of about 75% in population over the last fifteen years. Meanwhile, the Sheriff's Department now employs about 110 people, for an increase of about 350% over the 30 folks that worked there when Sheriff Carlise first took office back in 1997. Fifteen years ago the Sheriff's Department housed about 25 or 30 inmates, whereas today, they average around 165 inmates, which is an increase of about 550%.

Now again, I am not saying that the Sheriff is not doing a good job, but the figures speak for themselves. There are more people in the county, but there are a whole lot more people in the Sheriff's Department, and also a whole bunch more folks in jail. The point is, that this is typical of government today, as opposed to just fifteen years ago.

Just like the Dawson County Sheriff's Department has gotten a lot bigger and more expensive to run, so have all levels of government and services, from the local level, on up to those folks up in DC. The question is, do we want government to keep getting bigger and bigger, and more expensive? Also where does it all end? The population is getting larger, and the crime rate may be going up, but how many policemen and jails do we need? And, how much government do we really need?

I, for one, am in favor of less government, less expenses, and less taxes, but what can we do? Obviously the citizens of Dawson County are happy with what they have, or they would not have voted to re-elect a sheriff, who seems to believe that bigger is better, just like the nation re-elected a President who never saw a dollar, he didn't want to spend.

"Just my opinion"
Scoop Biggers

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"Gun Control and Farm Boys"

The Nankipooh Enquirer
P. O. Box 1849
Nankipooh, Georgia
Editor in Chief: Colonel Bascomb Biggers
Ace Reporter : Scoop Biggers
bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net





DATELINE January 18, 2013:
"Gun Control and Farm Boys"
By: Scoop Biggers


I grew up out in the country on my grandparent's old farm. In those days folks in the country always had loaded guns in the house, cause there was always the need to shoot a varmint or a snake,and it was good to have something handy for self defense in case of need. Most people had shotguns or rifles, but we never gave it a second thought about having a loaded weapon in the house. My grandfather keep his 12 gage Winchester automatic loaded with five shells, leaned up in the corner against the wall next to his bed.

I got my first shotgun when I was fifteen years old, but I had cousins who got their first shotgun at twelve or thirteen years old. Just about everybody hunted either dove or quail, or rabbits and squirrels. When I got my old 16 gage Mossberg, I asked Grandpa if I could keep it loaded next to my bed, like he did. He said that would not be necessary, since one loaded gun was enough, and everybody in the house knew where it was and how to use it. I had fired my first shotgun when I was five years old, and when the recoil knocked me to the ground, I got my first lesson in gun control and safety. By the time I was fifteen, I had ten years of gun training and experience under my belt.

Now to a farmer, a shotgun is just another tool like an axe or a hoe. We preferred to use a long handled hoe to kill snakes around the hen house, but the shotgun was more useful for foxes or raccoons trying to steal your eggs. I was taught to use it like any other tool on the farm, and when we hunted, it was for food, even though I did enjoy the sport of the hunt.

When I was in high school, and the school bully was out to beat me up , it never occurred to me to get my shotgun, I just did my best to avoid him, and finally the threat passed away. The fact is I was taught to respect both the power of a gun, and its danger, but I was also instilled with a respect for the value of a life. Even when hunting there should be respect for killing an animal or a bird whose life is given to us for food.

The debate we are having in our country over guns and violence, should be focused on how to teach our young the value of life and respect for anything which has the power to take life, rather than passing laws which tell us which tools we can use in the leading of our lives. There is no more reason to ban guns, than there is to ban long handled hoes, and we already have enough laws to punish those who take lives.

"Just my opinion"

Scoop Biggers

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"Moonshine Runs from Dawsonville to Nankipooh"

The Nankipooh Enquirer
P. O. Box 1849
Nankipooh, Georgia
Editor in Chief: Colonel Bascomb Biggers
Ace Reporter : Scoop Biggers
bascombbiggers@bellsouth.net





DATELINE December 17, 2012:
"Moonshine Runs from Dawsonville to Nankipooh"
By: Scoop Biggers


There have been a whole bunch of stories told, and written about the Moonshiners running white lighting from Dawson County down to Atlanta back in the 40’s and 50’s. Why some of those old boys are famous, like Raymond Parks, Red Vogt, Lloyd Seay, and Roy Hall. Of course Dawsonville became really famous for fast cars and hot drivers after “Awesome Bill Elliot” from Dawsonville came on the scene.

But maybe you didn’t know about some of the moonshine runners from other parts of Georgia. For instance during the 50’s and 60’s there was a lot of white lightening hauled from stills in the hills around Pine Mountain in Harris County, down to Columbus in Muscogee County. My cousin Norman Biggers made a few of those runs as a teenager, but his most famous police chase was on Halloween night 1964, and he wasn’t hauling shine that night.

He and his buddy Joe Holland were driving back to Nankipooh from Columbus after going to a costume party at the church in town. They were both dressed as cowboys. Norman was driving a 1964 Pontiac Tempest Custom Coupe with a 326 cubic inch V8 pulling 285 horsepower. They were headed north on U.S. Highway 27, and as you near Nankipooh, there was a mile and a half straightaway where you could really open it up. As they crested the hill right before the straightaway, Norman saw a car parked in front of an old barn. “Is that the cops?” he asked Joe. Joe said “no”, and Norman put the pedal to the metal, and said, “Well, if it is, they are going to have to catch us”. Halfway down the straightaway at about 120mph they saw a car behind them with a flashing red light.

Now Norman knew the road well, and knew that at the end of the straightaway there was a sharp left turn. As he approached the turn he switched off his lights and locked down the brakes and put the car into a power slide as he turned the wheel at about 50mph. Just as the Pontiac made the turn, the Muscogee County police interceptor saw them and the driver hit the brakes too late and slid the big 1963 Ford across the road and into a ditch. When he saw this, Norman stopped and backed up to see if the policeman was alright.

The big Ford backed out of the ditch and pulled up behind the Pontiac and the county policeman got out and walked up to Norman’s window.  “Ok, boy, let’s see your flying license”, he said. After looking at the seventeen year old’s license, he said. “Boy, how fast were you going?”  Norman said, “I guess about 80.” The cop said, “Hell Boy, I had the hand of the speedometer hid past 120 on the 390 interceptor, and I wasn’t even catching up to you! So why did you stop?” “Because I thought you might be hurt” said Norman. “That’s what I thought”, said the policeman, “so because of that, I’m going to give you a ticket for doing 65mph in a 50mph zone and you can pay a fine and not go to court.” Years later, Joe Holland said that night was still the most scared he had ever been in his whole life.

After that little race, and a lot of soul searching, Norman Biggers never raced the police again, and he never hauled another drop of shine neither. But he swears to this day that he still likes a little taste every now and then, when he can find some. Some say that good corn liquor is the best that money can buy, when it’s made right.

"Just my opinion"
Scoop Biggers

(If you like this article, forward it along to others. The Nankipooh Enquirer needs all the coverage it can get!)

This article can be viewed at the blogsite - http://scoopbiggers.blogspot.com/

The Nankipooh Equirer also online at:
http://cumminghome.com/
http://dawsontimes.com/

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