This is Viewpoints for Sunday, April 17, 2016
Beetle has company
Just got a call from Beetle Bailey. He wanted to know if he goes, can he take Mary Worth with him? I told him, "Yep." No brainer.
— Tom McGuire
Warner Robins
Getting carried away
To those contributing to the comment pages on macon.com whose vocabularies are filled with distasteful and even shameful words that not only degrades them but is also beginning to degrade the comment pages, may I suggest they disagree with some evidence of human dignity.
Am I the only one who enjoys the comments below the opinions? Yet I am embarrassed by some of the verbiage that some posters use. Do any of those who seem to enjoy commenting back and forth in such a rude manner ever think others who read their conflicts enjoy all the name calling? It is a useless waste of time and space and contributes no meaningful use to the discussions.
— Faye W. Tanner
Macon
'What hump?'
I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time. Middle Georgia, you must go see Theatre Macon's musical performance of Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein," continuing next week through April 23. I am constantly truly astonished at the wealth of wonderful local talent to be found in our area. This fabulous show is Broadway caliber that will leave you in awe of what these talented volunteers can accomplish. The marvelous sets and costumes were of professional standards. The singing was sensational and the dance scenes were phenomenal.
You had better buy your tickets fast because once the word gets out about this spectacular performance the tickets will be all sold out. Congratulations to Theatre Macon and its leader Jim Crisp celebrating their 30 year anniversary and what an extraordinary way to commemorate this special date.
Thank you Theatre Macon for delivering such enjoyable and amazing shows. My only regret is that we didn't become season ticket holders sooner. After purchasing our first season tickets two years ago, I quickly realized what a bargain we had found. I can't wait to hear next season's lineup announced.
— Lucia Carr
Macon
Nothing more predictable
Have you ever wondered why people complain about Congress and yet keep electing the same people over and over again? That's known as Fenno's Paradox. It was named after political scientist Richard Fenno after he wrote a book in 1978 about House members in their districts. People hate that body of politicians in Washington, D.C., who argue all the time and never get anything done, but they love the nice congressman from their district who goes to nursing homes, schools, county fairs, etc.
Most congressmen are only concerned with getting re-elected and concentrate on issues affecting their districts rather than the nation. During the 2014 midterm elections, 85 percent of the incumbent congressmen were reelected despite congressional approval ratings in the lower teens. After two dozen primaries in 2016, not a single incumbent has been defeated. Nothing is more predictable than death, taxes and the chances of an incumbent congressman getting reelected. But at least death doesn't get any worse when Congress is in session.
— William D. Carter
Bonaire
Help for eating disorders
In the United States, 30 million men and women suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives, yet the problem continues to grow due to a lack in funding and non-efficient medications. The rate of development of new cases has been increasing since 1950, and is the No. 1 cause of death among psychiatric disorders.
Part of the problem why eating disorders are still prevalent into adulthood is because medications used to treat patients are not working effectively. There has been more research, however, with positive results, indicating that the outlook for patients who get diagnosed and seek help sooner have a greater chance of a full physical and emotional recovery.
A German school-based program published in the European Eating Disorders Review, called PriMa, for the primary inhibition of anorexia reported that this program has the potential for effective prevention of eating disorders. We need to develop a program like this one for high school students that will identify at-risk individuals and partner with psychiatrists to administer proactive therapy.
The prevalence of eating disorders in our community is unacceptable. Between 40 percent and 60 percent of elementary school children are already concerned about their weight, and the burden persists throughout their lifetimes. The best way to beat eating disorders is to identify at-risk youth and administer help before it becomes a chronic problem.
— Catesby Penn
Student, Mercer University
Different kind of debt
After reading a few letters about the national debt, I believe that some misconceptions need to be dispelled as the national debt does not work similarly to personal debt, and this is where many of these misconceptions come from. Take China, for example. China sells a great deal of goods to us. We pay them in dollars, which cannot be used in China. So the Chinese use these dollars to purchase U.S. treasury bonds. Since the U.S. is under no risk of collapse or conquest, the dollar is a safe bet.
The next part is important: These are not, I repeat, not puttable bonds. Regular bonds only pay out when they mature and not a moment sooner, and are not paid out all at once. The U.S. only has to pay off these bonds in chunks every year, and only have to pay it in dollars. In other words, the Chinese cannot "call in" America's debt as they are far more reliant on the dollar than we are, and if they did anything to weaken the dollar, they'd sabotage their own economy far worse than ours. The Chinese only own about 8 percent of our debt, and every dollar of national debt the U.S. owes it also owns 89 cents in foreign debt.
Remember, international and state economics do not work the same way as personal or business economics. Macroeconomics and microeconomics are not the same thing.
— Bill Haywood
Macon
Bury the bones
An April 13, 1866, article in the Atlanta "Intelligencer" revealed that Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes was released from federal prison on April 6 by order of the president, on his original parole given under the Johnson-Sherman convention.
I am of the sincere opinion that Heinrich Hartmann "Henry" Wirz, Swiss-born commander of Camp Sumter, the Confederate prisoner of war camp near Andersonville, should have also have been released from prison under the same parole stipulations of the Johnson-Sherman convention. Instead, he was illegally tried and executed relating to his command of the camp.
After an autopsy removed some of Wirz's body parts, his partial remains were eventually reburied at Mount Olivet cemetery in Washington, D.C. I have heard that some of these human remains were sent around the country and displayed as some type of morbid sideshow, despite President U.S. Grant issuing an order to bury an "entire" body. I have read that Wirz's arm and certain neck bones remain on public display at the National Museum of Medicine and Health located in Silver Spring, Maryland.
News stories dealing with the bones of deceased soldiers and the desire to rebury their remains are relatively common. Why is the Wirz case different? Petitions and appeals to end this 150 year reign of blatant Northern barbarity, by burying all mortal remains, have been arrogantly unheeded.
— John Wayne Dobson
Macon
This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 7:36 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, April 17, 2016 ."