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I Don’t Stand for It, Either
I was very displeased with your printing of the [July 15] article “Don’t Stand for It” by Tony Basilio.
It is very un-American to think that someone has to honor your version of God by standing for “God Bless America.” There are 30
million Americans who do not subscribe to any religious beliefs and many others who believe in a different version of God.
It would be different if Mr. Delgado wouldn’t stand for “The Star Spangled Banner,” because it doesn’t have reference to a deity of any kind. How many people would stand if the song being played was “Allah Bless America” or “Zeus Bless America”?
Billy Farris
Knoxville
Paradise for Crime
It was a great day to be a criminal in Knox County. Two weeks ago, a battery-powered lawn mower was stolen from my home in East Knox County. In addition, the thieves looked through our carport closet for additional items. My neighbor witnessed the robbers, who fled away upon being seen.
My wife called the Knox County Sheriff’s Department, only to be told there was only one person answering the phone for criminal cases, and this person didn’t have time to talk with her.
An hour later, I called the number given to me by the sheriff’s office for this type of crime. I was placed on hold for 20 minutes. Eventually, I was connected with someone who told me the person in the North Precinct should take my call, as the west office is closed today. She was kind enough to transfer me to the appropriate number, which rang for 13 minutes before someone answered. Again, I was told the person who takes criminal reports in west Knox County was out sick.
My guess is that the white van has committed numerous additional burglaries in my neighborhood since we first called about the missing mower. With no one to talk to at the Sheriff’s office, it surely was a great day to be a criminal in Knox County.
Kevin Slimp
Knoxville
A Right-Wing Green?
I’m a Conservative environmentalist. What that means is I support clean air and clean water. I support preserving wildlife habitat, and I support forestry and wildlife management. I support hunting and fishing—for food, and I support the belief that through common sense and tried and true methods used and practiced by Tennessee’s forestry and wildlife/fisheries agencies, humans and wildlife can reach and maintain a common existence.
What I don’t support is extremist environmental groups that use misinformation and fear tactics to gain support for their “cause.”
These groups shouldn’t have to mislead their followers to maintain their support.
What I am talking about is the occasional claims by local enviro-groups who assert that Tennessee’s air and water quality are getting worse, when the opposite is true. I base my views on history and common sense.
For example: Many Environmental groups list coal-burning practices as one of the chief air polluters in the East Tennessee Valley. Well, it’s pretty much a historical fact that since the 1960’s, the residential use of coal for heat has been virtually eliminated, and the vast majority of businesses in the region no longer use coal to heat or produce electricity. Also, those few coal fired plants still operating which continue to burn coal to generate electricity have filters installed to clean their emissions—something that was absent during the first half of the 20th century.
In other words, the use of coal as a fuel source in East Tennessee has drastically decreased in the last thirty years or so, and the few commercial plants that continue to do have taken extensive measures to limit what pollution they are responsible for. So then has the pollution created by coal burning also been virtually eliminated. Hence, air quality in East Tennessee has improved, not worsened, in the last thirty years or so.
The same holds true for auto emissions. Simply stated, most cars on the roads today have anti-pollution equipment installed on them, as opposed to the first seventy or so years of the 20th century, when anti-pollution equipment was not required on autos.
Water quality has dramatically improved in our region as well. As a matter of fact, Knoxville area streams are showing more and more wildlife and aquatic life that depends on clean water to survive. A few years ago, a pair of beavers took up temporary residence on Love’s Creek in East Knoxville, and today, sightings of blue herons and kingfishers are common sites on Knoxville City streams. Trout fishing is now possible on the Holston River. That wasn’t the case twenty or thirty years ago. That being said, I know that air and water quality in East Tennessee is improving, and will continue to improve through technological advancements.
Like I stated above, I support clean air and clean water, but I remain dubious about certain wild and erroneous claims by enviro-whackos that either have little factual support, or are based mostly on emotion, such as Global Warming being attributed to man-made pollution, holes in the Ozone Layer being caused by fluorocarbons, and a recent wild claim that the Great Smoky Mountains were “dying,” partly because of plans to construct a road across the Mountains near Fontana Dam. Remember the claim that evergreen trees in the Smokies were being killed by Acid Rain? Well, it wasn’t Acid Rain that was killing the trees, it was an insect, and the environmental groups that were (and still are) making these claims knew that, in my opinion.
I’m perfectly willing to support efforts to keep the environment healthy. But I will not support ANY environmental group that intentionally uses lies, half-truths, politics, and biased inferences to gain public support.
Greg Monroe
Knoxville
Peace Be to Hotfoot Joe
Thanks for Joe Tarr’s story on the Firewalk at the Center for Peace [July 15, Firewalk With Me]. The firewalk is just one event we offer at the Center, and because we’re not listed in the phone book and people sometimes have a hard time finding us, I wanted to offer a little more information.
The Center for Peace is a non-profit, spiritual center in Seymour.� We focus on applying ancient wisdom traditions to the modern world with the goal of working toward world peace, spiritual growth and personal empowerment.
We’re in the midst of building our website now, so we invite interested folks to visit us often at www.centerforpeace.us or to call (865) 428-3070 for more information.
Katy Koontz
Knoxville
July 29, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 31
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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