25 JUL 05: ELLEN BARKIN'

Who is Ellen Cameron, and how did she gain so much clout with the Georgia General Assembly? The Columbus woman has a new state law nicknamed after her - and thankfully, she didn't have to be kidnapped or tortured to do it.

I hadn't heard about "Ellen's Law" until Sunday - a new law in Georgia banning anything which obscures your license plate. So you drivers with a big "Auburn" covering the word Georgia on your tag either should change your allegiance, or move to east Alabama where you belong.

Ellen Cameron is the wife of a Columbus chiropractor. [INCORRECT: SEE 26 JUL ENTRY] She explained Sunday the couple became annoyed at drivers with plastic-covered license plates running stop lights and speeding. You wonder if they mark down tag numbers and contact police. I tend to point like a basketball referee calling a foul.

(Come to think of it, shouldn't chiropractors know better than to let these things become a pain in their necks?)

Ellen Cameron also noticed a trend in store and bank robberies - where police often admitted getaway vehicles had obscured license plates. But aren't law officers guilty of the same sort of behavior? They use unmarked police cars in undercover operations all the time.

Ellen Cameron decided something needed to be done, so she contacted State Senator Seth Harp. He introduced a bill to ban plastic covers on license plates - and Harp apparently did it so quietly, it never was noticed by two big lobbying groups: the auto detailing companies and the makers of Baggies.

In fact, Ellen Cameron says law enforcement groups backed her proposal. With that support, "Ellen's Law" passed the Georgia Senate unanimously and was signed by Governor Sonny Perdue. I'm tempted to say this was as easy as taking candy from a baby -- but Cameron may be working on a bill against that, too.

Ellen's Law actually was signed in May and took effect July 1, yet for some reason it hardly received any news coverage. Ellen Cameron apparently tried to spread the word about the bill, but only small papers in the Columbus area paid her any attention for weeks. It was either her news, or yet another extension service article on how to buy produce.

Ellen's Law is an amazing example of how one person can have an impact on our government, and affect possibly thousands of people across the state. Some would say that's what makes our country great. Of course, people with plastic covers on their car tags would say Ellen Cameron should do this only with chiropractic patients.

I can hear critics of Ellen's Law now, calling this yet another erosion of privacy rights. I hope those people are just as understanding if people burglarize their homes - instead of demanding their remove their ski masks first.

Meanwhile, Alabama's legislature is still in a special session. Did you hear about the House resolution Phenix City's Lesley Vance sponsored, encouraging residents NOT to travel to Aruba? Fox News Channel probably made up that loss of revenue, by sending so many people there to find Natalee Holloway.

(Another web site mentioned Lesley Vance's resolution over the weekend -- and estimated the economic loss to Aruba in the "tens of dollars." For one thing, well-educated people in Mountain Brook actually know where that island is....)

E-MAIL UPDATE: Now for your new word of the day. Apparently we misunderstood what a reader wrote 16 July regarding various forms of religion:

Hi,

Also, there is a difference between pantheisim and panentheism, though it is not vital to the conversation. Panentheism usually espouses the views of a personal GOD and monotheism, though when viewed through modern Judaeo-Christian conceptualizations of GOD, it is atheistic.

Pantheism incorporates many more views, usually, with polytheism as an essential aspect.

Both are contrary to Scriptural teachings.

Is your blog writer, "AR," Adrian Robinson, the murderer who beheaded the saintly sister?

Deb

No, Deb, AR does NOT stand for Adrian Robinson. If someone even lets him have Internet access behind bars, he's probably too busy playing bloody games to compose e-mails with any thought at all.

Now let's catch up on some leftover news items from the last few days....

+ Columbus leaders held a meeting on the coming addition of thousands of soldiers to Fort Benning. Mayor Bob Poydasheff likened it to "a LaGrange coming to Columbus." Of course, LaGrange once actually did that - but now Newnan has better stores, and it's closer.

+ Columbus Public Library officials said participation in the summer reading program has jumped dramatically in the last four years. Does the new library building get the credit for that? Or are the prices at Barnes and Noble simply too expensive?

+ Instant Message to TV-66: I'm still trying to figure out your new call letters. Does WLGA stand for "We Love Georgia and Alabama?" Or are you giving up on that Columbus office, and moving your studio to LaGrange?

COMING THIS WEEK: Looking for the "mark of the beast" near the main post office....

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