This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Trashers

Thrashers and trashers, lots of difference. I watch Georgia’s Brown Thrasher as they thrash the brush and in my case, the pine island that gets scattered around. The trashers in our neighborhood and lots of others go about to rid themselves of unwanted trash in their vehicle. These sick-in-the-head people should know better; yes, I said “sick.” They only think of self with no regard for the neighborhood, streets and roads we share. Sick and selfish they are. My wife and I go around the Timber Ridge Drive neighborhood and pick up their trash, but it gives me and wife something to do, but how sick and selfish are those who throw their trash onto our nice area. What about keeping a bag in the vehicle to deposit their trash and we will all enjoy the streets and roads of our city.

Natural order

I would like to locate the imaginary dream world that Dave Oedel lives in where houses do not decay. In the real world where the rest of us live, houses and everything else decays, which is Mother Nature’s way. Things eventually go back to the earth — just visit your local cemetery. In the case of houses, it’s often water that speeds up the natural process and it comes by way of leaky faucets, rusty pipes and old roofs. In time, everything will eventually decay even if consistently worked on. Just look in the mirror.

Oedel in his article printed in this paper stated that: “The hopelessly decaying of the hapless properties teetering on the edge of getting condemned to the bulldozer are the result of McCord and Company over the past decades dragging their feet.” Well, please tell us, Oedel, how the tax commissioner can change this natural order of the earth.

‘Adopt A Road’

This is in response to Lynn Faulkner’s letter about trash everywhere in Macon. It’s pitiful that a historic city like Macon has to look so terrible. There is a way to change this — “Adopt a Road Program.” Naples, Florida., where I am from, has had this program for years and believe me it works. Every business or person who enters this program has a sign made by the county to confirm it. I adopted a road and cleaned it every month and all that it took was bags and a grab stick from the county and me. I wish our mayor would look into this. The program will stop this shameful problem.

Insanely impractical

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz is against granting legal status to 11.2 million undocumented immigrants though his hero Ronald Reagan gladly did so. My question is, if he wants to deport them which countries would accept them? The answer is none.

The physical, financial and emotional aspects of deportion and denying them citizenship would bring on massive disruptions and violent outbursts. The National Guard troops of many states would be called out to try to keep the peace.

Sen. John McCain was right to call Sen. Ted Cruz a “wacko bird!” His political platform is insanely impractical. He shut down the federal government. Cruz wants to abolish the IRS and install the Fair Tax. Shrink the size of government is his main goal.

Why no whites?

First let me say the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations have given billions of dollars to help students of all countries of the world including the United States. However, Bill Gates himself stated that no scholarship will be offered to whites. Talk about discrimination against whites. I see The Telegraph has announced the 2016 Gates Scholars from Central High School.

Dr. Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund, which administers the Gate Millennium Scholarship Program in partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the American Indian Graduate Center Scholars and the Organization of Chinese Americans, as of 2019 when the $1.5 billion program is scheduled to end, will have given scholarships to 20,000 minority students. There is a $210 million endowment to provide international scholarships. Most minorities already qualify for all kinds of additional free state and federal programs not offered to all, so why don’t the Gates Foundation base scholarships on poor children rather than race? Gates proves Judge Verda Colvin wrong when she told students before her court that the beauty of being poor is you get a free college education. She forget to mention except if you are ‘White.”

The Gates Foundation claims one in five students is unable to read and grasp the contents of what they read, and African American and Latino students are graduating high school with the skills of a middle school student. Well they go to the same schools as poor/middle class whites. However, Gates invested $250 million to reduce student-to-teacher ratios and supports charter schools. He spent $373 million on education in 2009 and donated to the two largest national teachers’ unions and was the biggest early backer of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Some seem to think poorly of the powerful teachers’ unions and common core.

I am just wondering why Bill and Melinda Gates think poor and middle class students are not worthy of their acknowledgement to aid in furthering their education. Just because their “white children” do not have to worry about money and a college education, there are millions of poor and middle class dedicated and studious white children who will not go to college due to finances.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 7:22 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, April 27, 2016."