This is Viewpoints for Saturday, August 22, 2015
Too late for that
Many years ago a history professor told me he did not know what caused the Civil War. I finally realized that I don’t know either. It seems to have happened in a time warp. Slavery was legal in only three countries in the Western Hemisphere: The United States of America, Cuba and Brazil. The peasants were being freed in Russia.
But the American Civil War actually happened. Historians are not making it up. We cannot change history by taking down Confederate flags and monuments. Heaven forbid that we re-write history, It seems wiser to allow Confederate flags to fly. They remind us not to do something stupid.
— Sam Marshall
Milledgeville
Reasons for autism
The brain is made up of approximately 100 billion nerve cells called neurons which gather and transmit electrochemical signals. The development of these neurons are being disrupted sometime between conception and birth leading to a gamut of electrochemical malfunctions. Wherever humans procreate you’ll find children with these complex neurobehavioral disorders that includes, but not limited to, social and developmental impairments in language, communication skills, emotions and physical dexterity. These symptoms are indicative of neurobiological and neuropsychiatric disorders being experienced by tens of millions of children encompassing every race, ethnicity and socioeconomic groups throughout the world.
In the year 2000 one out of every 150 children born in American had malfunctioning neurons; today it’s one in 88 (119.4 percent increase) and if the trend continues, by century’s end, every child born in America will be mentally crippled by it. The various high-powered digital and WLAN (Wi-Fi) signals powering the world’s communication system is the only common denominator capable of disrupting the development of neurons of vulnerable embryos as they proceed through the embryonic stages regardless of their location on earth or their race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
Those born with malfunctioning neurons are said to be autistic; whether mild or extreme. Highly functional or nonfunctional autism can be managed to some degree with drugs and therapy, but, drugs and therapy do not and cannot repair the billions of damaged nerve cells. Mankind has created this quandary and if not faced and dealt with decisively and honestly autism will in time end civilization as we know it.
— Travis L. Middleton
Peach County
A way forward?
Bill Cummings’ column was thought provoking. In 2014 the government took in over $3 trillion in revenue and spent it all. Congress had to borrow over $200 billion in order to fund all of its fiscal obligations. There has not been a budget surplus since 2000. The national debt is over $18 trillion and by January 2017 it will be over $20 trillion. We are the only country that borrows money to fund its foreign aid commitments.
Congress has diverted money from the Social Security Trust Fund and the Medicare Trust Fund in order to finance its pet projects. Therefore, both trust funds will run out of money within 20 years.
Congress will not revise the Tax Code or implement a new Tax Code, because under the existing code Congress can continue to give tax breaks and subsidies to corporations, companies and individuals who contribute to their reelection campaigns.
Congress should enact legislation to safeguard the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. They should restructure both funds to ensure that neither runs out of money. The 2017 budget should be capped not to exceed 2014 levels. Congress should reduce expenditures by 5 percent a year for the next 10 years. Congress should reduce the size of federal bureaucracies by 1 percent a year for the next 10 years. These actions will ensure a surplus each year. The surplus should be used to pay-down the debt.
I am not a supporter of tax increases, but Congress has so mismanaged the economy that dramatic action is required or we will end-up being a third world country. I propose a 1 percent federal consumption tax on the purchase of all goods by corporations, companies and individuals, excluding food and prescription medicine. The tax should be collected until the national debt is eliminated. People will wonder why do they have to pay a new tax? We have to pay because we reelected incompetents since 2000.
I realize there will be years when the federal government will need more than it receives in order to fund national emergencies, like war or natural disasters. The government can either use the funds generated by the 1 percent federal consumption tax or it can borrow the required money whichever is the most fiscally responsible solution.
This approach will only work if we elect fiscally responsible individuals.
— Jim Costello
Perry
Right to be offended?
I really do not understand how so many people allow others to offend them for I am the only one responsible for allowing others to offend me. I shovel-up and discard what is said about me or done to me by others, but I am protective of my love for God, people, family and country. I do not appreciate anyone who spits and stomps on the American Flag, does not salute those who have fought and died for our freedoms, those who do not respect people as people, those who use their race or status in life to abuse race and status in the lives of others, those who do not uphold or respect our laws, those who riot destroying properties and lives of others, parents who complain about their children’s education but do not participate in obtaining one, etc.
Speaking of parents, we now have some that are offended by forms referencing mothers and fathers. Therefore, a Tennessee court has ruled that the state will replace all mother/father forms to now read parent 1 and parent 2. I suppose this is the federal political corrections on gays, lesbians and the sexuality of possible trans-gender parents.
Since courts seem to rule anything and everything goes and defines who’s who and what is what, the truth will always remain, every child is born of a mother’s female egg and a father’s male sperm and no court can ever change that process.
But wait, just because it is illegal to clone a human being, the courts might change that, too. So I do not know which parent will be offended. Asexual reproduction is a mode by which offspring arise from a single organism and inherits the genes of that parent only.
— Faye W. Tanner
Macon
Reduce the military
We have the largest military budget in the world. The Pentagon believes that 25 percent of our military installations all over the world are excess and unnecessary and they want to get rid of them. They want to spend more on large weapons systems and other military hardware and improve wages and benefits for its personnel.
But Congress is always very reluctant to close military bases in their districts that would cause job losses and economic harm. So they are building the thirteenth nuclear aircraft carrier and another nuclear submarine on an annual basis. But the BRAC process has not happened for a long time. Sequestration is still around.
But our only enemies are obesity and diabetes that are increasingly raising the costs of our health care. Those health-care costs are competing with our defense budgets for more funding. Our infrastructure needs massive amounts of funding. Our cities need modern subways and trains.
It’s time Congress acts to sell off our surplus military installations all over the world. Then we can take better care of our servicemen and pay them more to attract more volunteers. A modern military will be more effective and we will be safer. Plus buy more planes and ships.
— Frank Gadbois
Warner Robins
Legalize marijuana
As other states are reducing their incarcerations of marijuana pushers, saving hundreds of millions of dollars, they are collecting taxes on the legalization through production and sales. Most of us know that legalizing the drug will end the billions of dollars flowing into sophisticated organizations and a well oiled criminal element.
The upside is enormous. Taxes and reductions in prison numbers will fund much needed road and bridge improvements. Lawmakers can no longer keep their heads in the sand.
— Joe Hubbard
Macon
Erickson was right
After carefully reading the C. Jack Ellis diatribe that took up 45 percent of the space available for text on the Viewpoints page, I almost choked on the absurdity of some of his statements. Without writing a novelette in response, let’s examine just one of his responses that tries to convince readers that Erick Erickson was off base in his assessment of insanity. For example, Ellis makes the statement about President Barack Obama that: “In my opinion, by every measure, he is doing an outstanding job”.
Huh? Excuse me. By my count, the Obama administration has been the focus of over 46 high profile scandals and instances of malfeasance since he took office, all of which were self-inflicted because of arrogance, ignorance, or a complete misunderstanding of what once made America great. Obama gives comfort to our enemies (see Iran nuclear deal), has all but abandoned our allies (see Israel and Ukraine), and has made the U.S.A. the laughingstock of the world. Our enemies no longer fear us, our friends can no longer trust us, our honor has been badly tarnished, and we are a debtor nation with an anti-capitalism leader as a main cause of our weak economy.
We now capitulate to (not negotiate with) tin-horn extremist dictators as if they were holding a gun to our heads and were squeezing us with crippling sanctions, and not vice-versa. Who in their right mind would ever agree to give three weeks notice of an inspection of a nuclear site? Three minutes would be my maximum acceptable notice so that the Iranian rats don’t have time to hide the cheese.
Self-proclaimed Sunni Muslim Hakim Mansour Ellis (or whatever his name and religion is this year) needs to face the fact that nobody with an IQ above room temperature would trust him any more than they would trust a used car salesman (my sincere apologies to used car salesmen). Please see the letter of solidarity that Ellis wrote to Hugo Chavez, then socialist president of Venezuela if you need more proof. His mayoral administration was just a foreshadow of the ineptitude and fiscal bewilderment now clearly evident in the debacle known as the Obama administration.
— John Ricketson
Macon
Welcome different opinions
The new format of macon.com is very nice. Back before the Internet existed, if there was an issue of importance, the editors would make sure it was printed. The same holds true today. Everyone has the right to exercise the First Amendment right to express their differences of opinion. We all have different experiences and may see things in different ways. The editors should not be insulted by some of the adjectives I have seen in the comments section. They welcome everyone to voice their opinions in the proper format.
— Renee Lee
Macon
Something’s missing
House Speaker David Ralston plans to file a bill that would protect an unwilling clergy from being forced to preform gay and lesbian marriages. He and others fail to mention protection against conducting a funeral service for a gay person. This part of life is for more important than a gay marriage. It will be the surviving family that wants a preacher to describe to God what a good person and loving family member the deceased was and not mention the fact that they went against God’s word. In a bill like this everything must be addressed and covered.
— Carl Lewis
Fort Valley
This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Saturday, August 22, 2015 ."