The federal judge who declared the pledge unconstitutional did not have the “right,” he had the “power” to do so. Not only that, it was his duty. That’s his job.Not all judges are elected and that is for a very good reason. They are supposed to devote their attention to what the law really means as applied to each of us as individuals. Citizens of the United States have rights that protect us from governmental powers. Judges help keep those “powers” and “rights” balanced.
In Alabama the more powerful judges are elected, which makes them also politicians who have to worry about popular opinion. Federal judges do not. Once they are nominated they must be approved by our elected representatives. If they are approved then they no longer need concern themselves with political popularity and are free to make unpopular decisions in the interest of justice. This does not mean they are never wrong.
The individuals who brought the case before the court are not any different, in my opinion, than an attorney with an office in an emergency room.
Even the President of the United States, as well as sworn witnesses in that judge’s own court room are not required to mention God during the swearing-in process if they do not wish to. This has always been a political case rather than a strictly legal one.
A more pragmatic issue would address the percentage of Alabamians who will be able to read the Ten Commandments if they are placed in all our public buildings.
Perhaps a new definition for an Alabama “statesman” might be considered as “one who is penny wise and pound foolish.”
Larry Welch
Weaver
Thanks
The LINC Program of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office would like to extend a special thank you to Coosa Valley Youth Services and Anniston City Jail for providing tours to our youth groups; Jennifer Heard of Daybreak Rape Crisis Center, Mike Reese of Alabama ABC, Jay Wigley of the Calhoun County Drug Task Force, Interim Chief Dryden of the Anniston Police Department, and Earl Warren of the Boys and Girls Club for speaking to our classes; and the Family Services Center, Inc., Parker Memorial Baptist Church, and the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville for providing the use of their facilities for Parent Project classes.These classes are changing the lives of families with strong-willed or out of control children. This work would not be possible without our valued partnership with these organizations and individuals.
Meghan Thayer
For the LINC Program
Anniston
Online subscriptions
The handful of newspapers that charge for Internet viewing of their copy, which The Anniston Star now intends to do, have been hit with the greed bug and a touch of myopia. This may indeed be the “next big thing” for newspapers that can’t sell enough ads to cover the costs of an overworked webmaster, an assistant, plus web links.
Eight thousand web readers at $48 a year is $384,000, if you can hold them. More likely, the number of web readers will drop by half or much more.
Before you pull an electronic curtain over your site, consider that many visitors must surely be former residents infrequently checking on the old home town. Is that worth $4 a month or $4 a peek?
Don’t be naive.
Newspapers make their serious money on advertising, not subscriptions. Most readers know that. Drive your sales staff harder.
Try posting headlines gratis. This would be a friendly gesture to those beyond your area, who visit the site infrequently or want to learn what kind of city and newspaper you have.
It is absurd to charge nearly as much to look at The Anniston Star online as for the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s Weekly combined, infinitely more than what most of the world’s greatest metropolitan dailies charge.
They seem to realize that Internet presence is about more than money.
James R. Travis
Dickson, Tenn.
From Canada
As a Canadian, I feel compelled to share some information regarding your decision as to which solution you will choose to destroy the chemical weapons stored in your lovely state of Alabama. Back in 1995, the Australians chose a non-incineration technology which was set up in Kwinana to destroy most of their stockpiles of old insecticides and PCBs. They destroyed 2,000 tons in less than five years and sold the unit to local representatives who now provide an ongoing service to the local population. The same happened earlier in Ontario, Canada. General Motors and the city of St. Catharines eliminated all their stored PCBs, after which the plant was dismantled and sold for scrap. Currently, the Japanese are siting a plant to start their cleanup.
We look upon you as the father figure of nations. You lead by example. Everyone has heard the concerns over incineration. We have lived it at Swan Hills, Alberta, where a supposedly state-of-the-art incinerator polluted the surrounding area with dioxin. Now the population in the proximity of the incinerator cannot eat fish, wild game and are stressed by the knowledge they themselves may be affected. The same scenario has happened all over Japan where incinerators are used to destroy household garbage due to the lack of landfill space.
We ask that you again lead us into an incinerator-free future by choosing an alternative technology. Where applied, they have proven, trouble-free records - no injuries, no cost overruns, no leakage problems, no accidental releases, no smoke, and, mostly, no hot air released to the environment. And best of all, as soon as the cleanup is finished, they pack up and head off to the next waste site. You get your land back in pristine condition.
The National Research Council has studied and issued their findings on the alternative solutions available to you. They found that one “Total Solution” to the Chemical Weapons problem stood out as the most mature and capable of completing the work.
Alabamians, you have the chance to lead and show your commitment to a clean and safer world. Choose carefully the technology to eliminate your chemical waste problems.
Barry Gravelle
Chateauguay, Quebec
Justice priorities
As I celebrated the blessings of liberty on July 4, I noticed in The Anniston Star that a 45-year-old former nude dancer at the Platinum Club was convicted of lying to a grand jury about having sex. She faces a 45-year sentence and a $750,000 fine.President Clinton lied about sex. The government spent $50 million dollars trying to hurt him for his lies, and he spent $6 million on lawyers defending himself.
Recently, The Star reported that hundreds of federal agents investigated a New Orleans brothel for two years before they raided it. When I lived in New Orleans every schoolboy in the city knew where all the brothels were.
Our country is gravely threatened with death and destruction by terrorism and severe hatred by a huge percentage of the world’s population.
Our CIA, FBI, and other federal agencies have been guilty of bungling and incompetence in regard to the terrorists. Enron, World.Com and other giant American corporations are bankrupting leaving the workers with nothing while the executives swim happily in millions. Yet, our Attorney General John Ashcroft expends tremendous resources busting nudies telling lies, New Orleans brothels and sick people desperately trying to relieve their pain with a harmless weed.
Does any politician running for election have anything to say about these absurd priorities?
Glenn Andrews, Jr.
Anniston
