Letter to the Editor

Now come public school apologists, wanting more money for less education.

It is commendable to support education, especially for ones self; but it is nonsense to support a bad plan that precludes education, either for ones self or others.

One can be for education but be against burning money and minds in public schools that cannot deliver the goods.

Public schools do not work, for a lot of reasons; but ‘not enough money is not one of those reasons. Lets take a look at just one reason why public schools are doomed to failure, regardless of how much money they spend.

Allegedly free education guarantees inefficiency.

Without prices for their goods and services, public school managers are flying blind. Prices would tell them which students want to learn what, in what volume they want to learn, when and where they want to learn, who does not want to learn what, who does not want to learn anything at all, etc.; but public ‘education is ‘free and therefore cannot be priced.

Prices condense trillions of bits of information, far too much for anyone to comprehend or even consider; but prices tell business managers what to produce and what not to produce, since they reflect information that is impractical or impossible to discover.

Price signals that occur with voluntary exchanges of property rights in goods and services are indispensable to an efficient market in anything.

It follows that the so-called free and efficient public education that the Texas Constitution ‘guarantees is logically impossible. The more money that is spent blindly, the more costly and less efficient education becomes.

More money will not cure the inherent blindness in public school operations, blindness that is a common defect in all so-called free goods and services that are subsidized fully or substantially with taxes from third-party payers.

No one with any brains who understands how the market works its magic with price signals (not to mention other features and incentives that tax-fed outfits do not have) would support public schools that retard education, with what amounts to child abuse.

James Ervin Norwood

Texarkana, Texas

We should clean up our diets

TO THE EDITOR:

Recently, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, involving dozens of experts, provided a more detailed assessment of the effects of global warming on North America. The 67-page report predicts devastating droughts and hurricanes and extensive flooding of coastal areas, displacing millions. Erratic weather fluctuations are likely to increase human and animal casualties from heat, storms, pollution, and infectious diseases.

A report released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization last November blamed animal agriculture for 18 percent (more than automobiles) of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, is emitted by burning forests to create animal pastures and by combustion of fossil fuels to operate farm machinery, trucks, refrigeration equipment, factory farms, and slaughterhouses. The much more damaging methane and nitrous oxide are released from the digestive tracts of cattle and from animal waste cesspools, respectively.

The annual observance of Earth Day this past Sunday provides a great opportunity to start saving our planet by dropping animal products from our diet. More details are available at www.CoolYourDiet.org.

Tommy Swan

Texarkana, Texas

Columnist needs wisdom from above

TO THE EDITOR:

Mr. McDermott, your words printed in a recent paper in the article, ‘Sometimes there are no reasons for terrible events’ betray you. You say that all these various people and institutions will be quick to give an answer, yet youre right there among them with a few ‘pearls of wisdom of your own. You malign their beliefs all the while inferring that your opinion represents the absolute truth.

‘It just is. Your wisdom cant be divine because evidently you dont believe in the Divine not from the Bible anyway. It cant have been given to you by a miracle because you have no grasp on the miracle-giving power of the omnipotent, omniscient God. Apparently, you were born with a predisposition to have wisdom above and beyond all other people.

Only the ‘Lord God gives wisdom, from His mouth come knowledge and understanding and ‘fools despise such wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7, 2:6). In His infinite wisdom God has called a few men to proclaim the truth. These men you have chosen to ridicule. The truth is that God has a perfect will which few seek and a permissive will which concerns everyone.

In that permissive will we each have a choice to make obedience to God or do what is right in our own eyes and choose the world. You have chosen to proclaim ‘rightness in your own eyes ‘it just is. Over the centuries, God used no less than 40 people over a period of at least 1,500 years to impart His wisdom to us. Many refuse that wisdom and pay an earthly price with an eternal price to follow. Unfortunately, many innocent people have to pay that price with them. Its not Gods fault and its not Satans that man made a choice as do each of us.

Gods wisdom says that ‘even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenience (Romans 1:28). Here lies the tragedy. The shooting was horrific, that we all agree, but the tragedy is that there is a fate worse than death. That fate is dying and leaving this world without having a soul-saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Opinions like yours sway people away from the One who died for their eternal life; for that demise, youll be accountable.

God said it not me ... It just is.

Pastor Tim D. Reed

Bloomburg, Texas

Electing the dysfunctional

TO THE EDITOR:

Ive traveled a lot in my 74 years and our country is the best in the world. The citizens of this great land keep electing dysfunctional people. Some of these appoint the same. Many of these have reached their level of incompetence.

For example, some of them think they know more than professional medical physicians do about abortion. Some think they know more about climate change than the scientific community. Some think they know more about war, when they have never served in the military. Some think they know more about law enforcement than professional police officers with many years of experience. There are more examples, but you probably understand, we need to admit when we dont know and let someone who does take the lead.

Will Ellis

Texarkana, Texas

Brother needs support

TO THE EDITOR:

I, Angela Brannan Potts of Clarksville, Texas, am writing to you again on the matter of my brother Charles Clayton Brannan who friends and family call Chuck. He was a prison guard at New Boston, Texas. Last year, he was charged with supposedly using force which was called official oppression. First off, I would like everyone to know that my brother would not ever hurt anyone and never has. He is very kind, loving, tenderhearted and a very distraught soul over anyone who believes or thinks that he would hurt anyone. He was only doing his job as he was trained to do to detain prisoners who he felt were a threat to him or others. People do not realize how fearful and stressful some of these inmates can be. He did not or would not hurt anyone ever. My brother in his lifetime has been his sons Boy Scout leader, PeeWee football coach and baseball coach for 18 years.

Over the past year, my brother has taken a stand against this cruel accusation that he did not do and has never done in his life. He has always lived his life to be good to others and to help when needed. It sorrows our heart to know the pain they have caused my brother and his wife and son this past year.

I ask all our family and friends of Bowie County and Red River County to take a stand with us against this cruel accusation.

Angela Brannan Potts

Clarksville, Texas