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Letters to the Editor

The politics of greed

During a winter where the coronavirus remains a threat, jobs are better but inflation is worse and the Russian leader is rattling his swords; all the former president wants to do is raise money for a presidential campaign that will never happen. Doesn’t matter what he says, Trump is laughing all the way to the bank. The “other guy” travelled from his palace in Florida to Texas to rally the faithful recently and promised that “when I am re-elected, I will pardon the January 6th insurrectionists”. Nothing about the country, just his desire to further strengthen his hold by ...

Habitat

Often referred to in terms of the wildlife needs of shelter, water, food, and space, habitat also applies to humans. In ecological terms habitat is often defined as an assemblage of animals and plants that live in a particular environment. Without proper habitat we will cease to exist, and one irreplaceable component of our habitat is water. Humans have an advantage over the assemblage of animals and plants that coexist and make it possible for us to live. We can normally take contaminated water that would make us extremely ill and filter it and treat it and render it harmless and ...

What virtues do we want

On January 19, Marietta College students celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a campus-wide day of service and reflection. These students implemented many community service projects and demonstrated a positive force in our community. I am reminded of MLK’s commitment to nonviolence and service to others. I am reminded of his optimism as he said, “The believer in nonviolence has deep faith in the future.” I am reminded of the importance of teaching our children about social responsibility and how to make caring decisions that contribute to the improvement of our communities. ...

Voting rights

As we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. let us recall his many words and actions besides the “I Have Dream” speech. Many times during the struggle in the 1960’s he kept saying we need the ballot. John Lewis marched on Selma as a young man and was brutally beaten to obtain the ballot. Today we have two bills in the United States Senate that need to be passed to protect the ballot. Senator Manchin cannot find 10 Republicans to vote for these bills which work strengthen our democracy. What is wrong with the party of Lincoln??? As John F. Kennedy once said, “Let us not seek ...

Stop issuing fracking permits

I am a life-long resident of Appalachia. I grew up in West Virginia and for twenty years I have lived in beautiful Marietta, enjoying the local parks and walking them. That love of nature has been threatened by the fracking industry. For the past few years, every time I travel Third Street, I have encountered more and more tanker trucks. That got me to start asking questions and doing research, which became very troubling. As I am sure most of you know, all those trucks are carrying waste from the fracking industry, called brine. Fracking is “a process that injects liquid at high ...

An inversion of natural rights

An inversion of natural rights I was recently teaching a group of students some of the concepts included in the Declaration of Independence. As we talked about natural rights, I read to them Thomas Jefferson’s soaring language affirming that we are “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.” While we talked about each individual’s God-given right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” it occurred to me that not only is our society no longer protecting these rights, we are actively promoting the opposite of each. Take, for instance, our right to ...