SMOKING DOPE
Response to "Study: Teen pot use results in IQ drop." Living, Aug. 28
Regarding the section-front article about marijuana use possibly lowering drug users’ IQ, well, duh!
Why do you think they call it "dope"? JEFF COGHILL, ATLANTA
CABLE RATINGS
Audience recognizes CNN’s bias problem
As long as CNN management plays its “we’re-objective” tune as its audience dwindles, its news empire will continue to burn (“CNN seeks a reinvention as U.S. viewers dwindle,” Business, Aug. 26). To borrow a phrase from a reputable organization: the first step is admitting you have a problem.
News bias is not in the “talking heads” of opinion shows, but in the editorial selection of what news stories are or are not broadcast, and the coloration of stories and questions asked by anchors and reporters.
In that regard, CNN has a problem — not because I say so, but because CNN’s audience said so.
BARRY KRIEGEL, ATLANTA
PARKING IN ATLANTA
Paying no guarantee against car booting
Regarding “Atlanta vehicle booting tactics inspire outrage” (ajc.com, Aug. 26), not long ago, I visited Atlanta, and got booted.
I had parked my car, paid a machine and got the receipt — which I immediately placed on the dashboard of my vehicle.
I noticed that my car was not fully in the space, so I realigned it in the same space and proceeded about my business.
When I returned to my car, it had been booted.
I called the company and, when a young man pulled up, I showed him the receipt. He asked, “Where did you get that?”
I replied, “From the machine, when I paid, and it was visible on my dashboard.” He replied, “The machine alerted us, so the only way I can remove the boot is if you pay the fee.”
Seeing as how the lot is in a busy location (across the street from the CNN Center), it has to be a profitable racket that needs to be reined in!
FRANK H. STALEY, UPPER MARLBORO, MD.
VICTOR HILL
Bookman is discerning columnist on occasion
Regarding “System’s not all foolproof” (Opinion, Aug. 26), Jay Bookman is a smart man. He tries mightily to hide that fact from his readers on a regular basis, however. I think his left-leaning posture is just that: a posture. He is identified as coming from the left, and he has to uphold his reputation to attract a segment of your readership.
In describing Clayton County’s colossal lack of judgement in electing Victor Hill as their sheriff, he tells me that at his core, Bookman is a discerning man at times.
JACK FRANKLIN, CONYERS
SANCHEZ COLUMN
‘War on women’ is more of an assault on truth
Mary Sanchez’s piece (“Akin’s gaffe is a glimpse of Republican attitudes,” Opinion, Aug. 28), has certainly amplified the baseless “war on women” that the Democrats manufactured.
This media attack is simply a bogus attempt to divert attention from the ever-slumping economy, drastic unemployment figures and failing foreign policy we’ve felt under this administration.
What do you do when all else fails? You conjure up “wars.” So now, they have invented a war on the middle class, war on women, war on students, ad infinitum.
Sanchez wants us to believe that Republicans have no regard for women or their rights or stature when, in fact, some of the most prominent, respected women in government are members of the Republican party.
War on women? I think it’s more a war on the truth.
MEL MATUSZAK, DACULA
