McKoon stands by his principles

We have observed your reporting and editorial criticism of Georgia Senator Josh McKoon’s efforts to support conservative values and want to share a few remarks. Senator McKoon has principles and the courage to stand for them. He has worked diligently to protect the unborn in this state, and we very much appreciate that work.

We supported Senator McKoon’s work on a bill to protect religious freedom because we believe that someone will challenge the rights of Christians to hold true to their values. The accusation that CSU somehow lost funding support due to Senator McKoon standing for his beliefs is difficult to accept and worthy of review because the latest information indicates that CSU will receive the money in next year’s budget when it is needed. The allegation that the Infantry Museum lost funding due to a political dispute also is worthy of review.

Senator McKoon continues to support life. We support him.

Friends and felons

Obama has commuted 248 felonies so far and has made it a priority to grant clemency on 10,000 more cases. Hillary Clinton will be just one among many.

Laws are not meant to be broken, they say. But if they are not prosecuted or the punishment is not rendered, what do they matter anyway?

We don't need Congress when executive orders can be generated and managed from the executive branch alone. Can a sky-scraping Trump House be the answer?

Our country ‘tis of who?

Power and money

Nuclear radioactive waste. It lasts over 10,000 years and is the most deadly substance known to all life on Earth. As of July 2015, there were 438 active nuclear reactors on Earth, with 67 new reactors under construction. These reactors produce nuclear radioactive waste water every day.

There were 442 reactors until Fukushima Daiichi Japan had three reactor meltdowns, (March 2011), which have not magically gone away.

These meltdowns caused 11,580 square miles to be contaminated with radioactive exposure unacceptable for safe human habitation. Japan evacuated all humans within 320 square miles. There should have been more, but their government raised the “limit of exposure” to 20 times the amount than it was before the incident. Waste water is leaking into the Pacific Ocean.

Like the Chernobyl meltdown, (April 1986), cities located near the meltdowns are now uninhabitable for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The estimated cost of “cleaning up” the Fukushima meltdowns is over $105 billion, not to mention the human costs and land losses. Hong Kong has banned all imports from this region. The Japanese themselves will not buy products from this region.

Even if nothing ever goes wrong, and there were no earthquakes, tidal waves, or world wars (the reactors would be bombed), nuclear radioactive waste water is being produced every day and being stored in underground cement tanks designed to last 25 years.

Did I mention the spent fuel rods? This is human insanity, and greed.

In Hanford, Wash., “storage tanks” are now leaking this waste into groundwater near the Columbia River. The power companies run TV ads stating that nuclear power is “clean, safe, and cost effective”. What? Solar power on all rooftops is the solution, but power companies have strong lobbies in Washington D.C. Listening yet?

Imbecility rules

Recent studies have shown that 2/3 of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice and half cannot identify all three branches of government. Forty-two percent do not believe in evolutionary biology and 24 percent believe the sun orbits the earth. A fourth of Americans read below the fifth-grade level; 29% read a newspaper; and 24% read even one book in a year. Sixth percent of college freshmen are required to complete remedial courses in mathematics and/or English to be able to manage a college curriculum.

Republicans are experiencing a catastrophe in the 2016 national elections process. Studies irrefutably show that Trump supporters are the lowest-educated of all constituencies and are highly susceptible to conspiracy theories and moronic analyses of complex national issues that have shaken this nation to undeniable despair for the masses. We do not need hate-filled diatribes, racism and stalemates wherever Republicans iterate such nonsense.

What the nation needs is intellectual rigor, higher education access and a return to liberal arts education — motivation that will inspire knowledge, inquisitiveness and tolerance of others that will deliver us from this morass.

Condoleeza Rice, now a professor at Stanford University, condemned intellectual imbecility with the indictment that “failing schools undermine economic growth, social cohesion, and the ability to fill positions in institutions vital to national security.” Breaking from her Republican base, she added that “great cultures are noted for their architecture and art, but America no longer cultivates widespread appreciation for its intellectual roots.” She got it; I get it — do you?

Fantastic fun

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the " Thunder in the Valley Air Show " at the Columbus Airport. My “hat’s off” to the organizers, promoters, participants, and hundreds of volunteers (especially the Columbus Police Department), for helping to make this such a successful event!

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 5:39 PM with the headline "McKoon stands by his principles."