Readers write

Troubled by armed troops in D.C.

We should all be troubled by the armed troops in our nation’s capital.

Who gives the president the right to order this? That is what dictators do, not presidents in a democracy.

The way to reduce crime is to reduce poverty and unemployment and homelessness. Our government should be spending money on that instead of spending millions on armed troops who only frighten the public.

ANNE FISHWICK HUGHES, DECATUR

Rooftop solar needed for data centers

Reading about data centers, they seem to present a fiscal boondoggle to our communities and electricity consumers across the state and nation.

They are huge, and one can only imagine their backup energy plans in the event of outages.

For example, large hospitals rely on generators the size of containers used in ship, truck and rail transport, consuming thousands of gallons of fuel and belching enormous amounts of carbon dioxide when running.

Building up the grid forces every single consumer to help fund and fuel these facilities, while the investors get tax breaks and employ a few people.

Why are our state leaders, economic developers and chambers of commerce not considering requesting that these data center developers cover their rooftops with solar and use battery backups?

It would lessen the load on our grid and individual household budgets as power bills surge. It would be the cost of “doing business,” without burdening all of us. Sure, it’s “woke,” but it would help everyone, including the planet, so it’s not broke.

ELLEN V. HARRISON, GROVETOWN

What’s next, a military coup?

I have read many articles in the AJC about President Donald Trump taking over policing in Washington, D.C., using lies about crime for his actions. Now, he is threatening to do the same thing in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Baltimore.

I can think of two possible motives behind this unlawful action.

One is to lie about rampant crime in cities (which he repeatedly does), send in troops to take over and then, after 30 days, declare that the crime problem is under control. This scenario feeds his insatiable appetite for praise and glory.