Coffee cup doesn’t reflect anti-Christian sentiment
I fear the AJC has been taken in by a hoax or fabricated event. Apart from a few people whose real motives are unknown, evangelical Christians are “not up in arms about Starbucks removing “Christmas trees, reindeer, snowmen, poinsettias and other holiday symbols” from their holiday cup design. Those are not religious symbols in the first place, and nowhere in the Bible does it say we are required to use them.
My best guess is that this non-event is someone’s way of trying to make Christians look silly.
MICHAEL COVINGTON, ATHENS
Beware hidden motives in DeKalb ‘fixes’
Petty pilfering, rumor mongering, questionable hires, inappropriate bids and cronyism all sound like “business as usual” at most big workplaces. Raising these unsavory practices in DeKalb County to the level of a potential state takeover of county government sounds more like a political agenda than a “good” government fix. The narrative is familiar. First, starve the financing with opportunistic moves for cityhood. A big recession and an obsession to privatize every government service have gone a long way toward shrinking revenues. Then make poorly documented accusations (true or untrue), and calls for “their” heads quickly follow. Be very careful what you wish for. A state government that refuses to expand Medicaid, seeks to privatize and/or close public schools, but eagerly funds pork barrel projects is no solution for DeKalb County’s problems!
RITA VALENTI, CLARKSTON
Columnist should be sacked
Please, please find someone to replace Leonard Pitts. There is absolutely nothing “balanced” about Mr. Pitts. He is extremely obsessed over the issue of “white” versus “black” in this country. A great majority of his opinions are devoted to stirring the pot of unrest. Even when the facts of an issue are clearly obvious, he insists on finding a way to make it out to be something that it is not. His biased views do absolutely nothing toward mending racial fences in our country. Conversely, he does his best to create unrest and conflict. Your newspaper would be much better off if you could find someone to replace him.
BOB GRAYSON, CUMMING
‘Paid patriotism’ is shameful
I am writing about the excellent and eye-opening news report on “paid patriotism,” revealing the millions in taxpayer dollars the Defense Department spends to “buy” events honoring our military at major sporting events. I was blown away by the fact that these teams collected cash for giving our troops the opportunity to take part in activities on the field, for example. How can this possibly be “honoring” our military men and women — charging them for the honor! I note that our Atlanta teams were some of the worst offenders. Thanks to senators John McCain and Jeff Flake for their report “Tackling Paid Patriotism” that brings this matter to light. Shame on our Defense Department, and deeper shame on the sports teams that have engaged in these ‘patriotic’ shams.
SANDY TIEKEN, ROSWELL
Pipeline ‘no’ a bad decision by Obama
President Obama demonstrates his loyalty to dogma and ignores safety of American citizens. On Nov. 6, he announced the denial of construction of the Keystone Pipeline for transporting 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada and the Western U.S. The application was submitted in 2008. Since his first inauguration, President Obama has promoted that the nation should abandon use of our abundant, inexpensive fossil fuels because carbon dioxide from combustion causes catastrophic global warming. This is proven false by numerous observations of relations between temperature and carbon dioxide for hundreds of thousands of years. Without oil transportation by pipelines, oil is shipped in tankers on rail lines. This is far more dangerous because of accidents. Loss of the Keystone Pipeline means 1,100 more tanker cars shipped daily for a system already burdened by an annual 220,000 rail shipments of ethanol. Ethanol is also promoted as a solution to global warming. Mayhem on the march.
JAMES H. RUST, POLICY ADVISOR, THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE
