Protesting students should face consequences
Local school districts need to reverse their decisions on allowing students to protest. The whole point of protest and civil disobedience is to be willing to accept whatever consequences come their way. Rosa Parks would not be remembered today had the bus driver told her she could go ahead and sit there. John Lewis would not be in Congress today had the Selma Police Department set up an approved protest area. These schools are doing a great disservice to students by not announcing that all students who disrupt class will be suspended for three days and no missed work will be able to be made up. That way, students can decide if the protest is worth torpedoing their GPAs. Only then will it be a true protest. CLAY WATERFILL, BUFORD
Gun registry would respect 2nd Amendment
Consider a requirement that possessors of all guns must register with a central service regardless of how they acquired the weapon – purchase, gift, or otherwise. The registration could identify any other individual as a “joint owner,” such as a spouse or child (after attaining a minimum age). Use or possession of the weapon by any other person would cause the owner(s) to be guilty of a crime. If the weapon is lost, destroyed, stolen, given or borrowed, etc., the owner must report that event immediately to avoid criminal prosecution if the weapon appears. If the weapon is recovered, that would require re-registration. The registration would exclude specific individuals with a history that would suggest possible misuse. Some could oppose this proposal because it may appear to conflict with the intent of the Second Amendment by providing a way for the “government” to pursue weapons from the “militia.” However, consider the possibility of that event compared to the effectiveness of the above suggestion, which is preferable to revoking the amendment.
STANLEY HARRIS JR., SAVANNAH
MARTA usage creates multiple benefits
It was great to read recently the articles on public transportation and MARTA. I’m always pleased when zipping into central Atlanta. I look down and see the expressway clogged with cars. In addition to diminishing my carbon footprint, MARTA saves me time and money. Improved air quality means less childhood asthma, hospitalizations and untimely deaths. Who takes MARTA? People like any of us, that is, citizens on their way to or from work, or cultural or sporting events, etc. It is safe, clean and pleasant and one of the simplest ways to make a more healthful environment. We can also demand that our legislators impose a carbon fee as close to the source as possible, with a dividend returned equitably to all U.S. households. This dividend will offset any rise in the cost of fuels. Soon, we can leave behind our dependence on dirty carbon fuels.
KATHERINE MITCHELL, ATLANTA
Climate change alarmists cause financial harm
Child psychologist John Rosemond’s March 8 column had him bemoaning that “clinical psychology, for all its scientific pretenses, was an ideology that cared little to nothing for research that contradicted its icons and idols.” What he said applies to other areas of science. In the controversy of climate change (global warming) caused by carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and natural gas, proponents of banning fossil fuels ignore past history showing global warming occurring centuries ago before widespread fossil fuel use. No attention is given to the fact, the warmest years in U.S. history occurred in the 1930s before carbon dioxide increases took place. Recently, the U.N.’s International Agency for Research on Cancer ruled weed killer Roundup is a cancer threat. This caused a Roundup ban in Europe. They ignored a 25-year U.S. Agriculture health study showing no problems using Roundup. Alarmists cause great financial damage.
JAMES H. RUST, POLICY ADVISER, THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE
