Are school cuts political retribution?
I was appalled to read State Rep. Tom Taylor, with the support of Sen.Fran Millar, is suddenly proposing a cut of $56 million to the DeKalb County school system. It smells of political retribution directed at the new superintendent, Dr. Greene, and his well-thought-out opposition to the Doraville TAD. Playing political hardball with the future of our children is a callous and shameful way to go about the business of governing.
FAYE ANDRESEN, ATLANTA
Charen way off on gun control
Mona Charen included a very misleading and inaccurate statement in her article (“Debate over gun control has no convenient villains,” Opinion, Jan. 11). In a speech, President Obama said that “A violent felon can buy … a weapon over the internet with no background check, no questions asked.” Ms. Charen called that statement “rubbish” and quoted an article in the Washington Post, which reported that gun dealers selling on the internet were required to conduct background checks on buyers. The problem is that Post report did not address what the President said. Last week the AJC printed a Politifact report on that same statement by the president, which ruled it “Mostly True.” The difference is the Washington Post report referred only to internet sales by gun dealers. The fact is, many guns are legally sold over the internet by individuals who are not gun dealers and, therefore, are not required to obtain a background check on purchasers.
RAY WOOLFOLK, VILLA RICA
Roe v. Wade doesn’t jeopardize “every life”
In (“Films offer Roe v. Wade Lesson,” Opinion, Jan. 23), Emily Matson uses her newborn to justify the Right to Life’s continuous campaign to curtail or eliminate women’s right to terminate pregnancy. She says that without any will of her own “Jack is a life.” Jack is a life because she had unprotected sex – it’s called biology.
As a mother of two, I have experienced the sense of marvel at the miracles that are my children. They were blessed to have been planned for and unconditionally loved. It’s extremely doubtful women cavalierly have abortions, as Matson suggests, to be free of “kicking, hiccups, heartburn and future cost of diapers.” I can imagine too many scenarios where a woman would be distraught to be pregnant, and where the outcome nine months later would be disastrous for her and her baby. Contrary to Matson’s assertion, Roe v. Wade doesn’t jeopardize “every tiny life inside me (and other pregnant women).” No one is impinging on Matson’s right to procreate. It’s called choice. It’s not for her or any of us to decide for another woman.
SUSAN VENEZIA, JOHNS CREEK
Computers can’t tell about climate change
Once again, Jay Bookman has adopted the liberal hyperbole without any independent investigation, and thus demonstrated exactly why the American public gives very little credibility to those so-called “climate scientists” warning us of a coming doomsday. His “facts” are all wrong.
In the 1970s, those scientists weren’t warning us of global warming, as Bookman states in his column; they were warning of the coming “ice age.” There was even a cover story in Time magazine about it. I’m old enough to remember; perhaps Bookman’s not.
Setting aside the suggestion that there were “computer models” in the 1970s, the climate science community has, almost unanimously, agreed that we don’t know just how warm the Medieval Warm Period was and that it may have actually been warmer than what we are seeing now. And all acknowledge that that period was followed by the Little Ice Age.
And this demonstrates the basic reason these scientists have so little credibility. History has proven that our climate goes through warming and cooling periods, and computers cannot tell when such a change in direction will occur. For all we know, a serious cooling period (even colder than the Little Ice Age) could begin within the next decade.
PHIL ROACH, COVINGTON
