West Africa’s other big threats
Ebola conjures great fear in America and is devastating west Africa. Lest we forget, there are far worse health crisis in west Africa: malaria and insufficient food production. The World Health Organization’s most recent statistics show 627,000 deaths annually from malaria alone, primarily in west Africa. This is more than 12,000 deaths on average each week. The especially troubling aspect of malaria is that there is a proven insecticide that could virtually eradicate the mosquitoes that carry and transmit malaria.
Add to that the European Union’s restriction on importation of food produced in Africa from disease-resistant and super seeds. This EU policy forces African food production to not utilize technological advances that could increase exponentially crop yields for local consumption. Without adequate harvests and food production, starvation in Africa compounds the death and destruction of Ebola and malaria.
DAVID SEARLES, SANDY SPRINGS
No transit mecca for young people
Jay Bookman would have us believe the reason Houston saw a 50 percent increase of young, college-educated persons in the years 2000-2012, as compared to an anemic 2.8 percent in Atlanta, was because of Houston’s extensive mass transit system. This is demonstrably false. According to the Feb. 13, 2012 edition of the Houston Business Journal, U.S. Census Bureau statistics reveal that “the Houston area uses less public transportation than most other U.S. cities. … Only 68,129 people use public transportation to get to work out of the 2.7 million workers in Houston.” That is a paltry 2.5 percent, less than even in Atlanta. Moreover, the greatest users of mass transit are lower and middle-income persons and not the young and college-educated.
STUART GALISHOFF, SANDY SPRINGS
Varied speed limits can be perplexing
I am amused by the comments made by Bob Dallas regarding the variable speed limits on the top end of I-285 (“Speed limit system needs time, patience,” Opinion, Oct. 21). The other day, I was traveling east on I-285 and observed the variable speed limit was 65 mph. A short distance later at the next variable posting, it was 55 mph and, believe it or not, back to 65 mph at the very next posting. During that time, traffic density did not vary a bit. What can one say about those who “manage” our road systems?
RALPH MARION, SANDY SPRINGS
