PUBLIC AID
Why fund foreigners
as Americans suffer?
Regarding “We should do more to help U.S. families” (Opinion, Dec. 16), I also read a story in this same edition of the AJC titled “Kerry: Climate change new enemy in Vietnam” (News, Dec. 16), about John Kerry pledging $17 million to Vietnamese farmers. This made me ill, to think how much that money could do to help the poor or mentally ill in the U.S. — especially when you consider how much more we give away in weapons and manpower to countries that hate us.
Why is it only considered noble, and a priority to give to those other countries, but helping families survive inside our country is considered propping up losers who need to get off of their butts? Investing our dollars in American families should be our top priority above all foreign aid — and the truly worthy recipients should not be made to feel like losers.
R.E. ELAM, MARIETTA
SPORTS
Give fans ticket caps,
not newer stadiums
Team owners seem to have this dream that if they build a new stadium, the fans will come to see what it is all about.
Well, all stadiums have plastic seats; guard rails surrounding the box seats, and luxury-type chairs for the luxury areas. Really, there is nothing exciting about a new stadium with (perhaps) a better view. What needs to happen is a sensible, lower salary cap, and a financial planner or money manager for the players so that they can learn to live on $2 million to $3 million a year, and for ticket prices to come down to earth so that the average fan is not spending $300 per game for a family of four.
Sports may be a business, but if a retailer prices a $19 steak knife set for $40, the customers are going to go elsewhere. It is time to have a ticket cap. If the owners don’t like it, then maybe the advertisers or TV stations will buy the thousands of tickets left over.
C. BERKELEY, DUNWOODY
NUTRITION
Genetically modified
food should be ID’d
Just as food manufacturers opposed laws to print nutrition facts on the food we buy, now companies like Monsanto are spending millions of dollars to kill ballot measures that would mandate the labeling of foods with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). If GMOs are safe, as Big Food companies claim, why would they spend so much money to prevent a label from being placed on their products?
There are no independent studies that confirm the long-term safety of GMO consumption. Until more is known about the safety of these ingredients, consumers have a right to be provided with information, so they can make informed decisions about what they buy and eat. We should call on our elected officials to support legislation to label these foods.
MICHAEL SIKORA, PROGRAM ASSOCIATE, GEORGIA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP
