Letters: Dec. 19, 2018

“Pro-Life” laws unconstitutional

All “Pro-Life” laws are illegal. Let me explain: Everyone should memorize our First Amendment in the Bill of Rights in our Constitution; it begins: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof .…”

The truth about the “Pro-Life” position is that it is a religious teaching, which some persons interpret and accept according to their belief. Therefore, throughout America, it is illegal for governments to force anyone to obey another person’s religion against their will. How can we heal our divisive democracy, when unprincipled humans seize the power to eliminate women’s rights?

Today, a political party, for the exclusive purpose of increasing political power, bribes some religions to corrupt their votes. This legalism enslaves women who are forced to obey restrictive pregnancy laws against their will. “Pro-Life” opinion is not about “Life;” it’s about “Control,” about “Power.” Pro-Choice freedom serves democracy, by serving our Constitution: women must remain free to access their private decisions concerning pregnancy and contraception. Their decisions are neither the government’s nor your responsibility.

Take that science with grain of salt

The media is full of predictions of apocalyptic events if radical action is not taken to address climate change. More storms, droughts, fire, famine, etc. If history is any guide, these predictions should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

In the early ‘90s, it was reported that the island nation of the Maldives would become uninhabitable within 30 years due to rising seas caused by global warming. Didn’t happen, and the nation seems to be thriving. There were predictions by pedigreed scientists that the Arctic Ocean would be ice free by summer 2008. Didn’t happen. Summer ice extent has been pretty stable over the last decade (about 5 million sq. km). In 2000 a British scientist predicted that snow in the British Isles would soon be a faint memory. What followed were several snowy winters, and the coldest December in a century in 2010. Scientist Paul Ehrlich predicted in the 1970s that there would be hundreds of millions of deaths caused by ecological disasters before the end of the century. Didn’t happen.

Wildly exaggerated claims like these are the tool of choice for politicians, sales people, and government officials when they are promoting something. Buyer beware.

Where did surplus in bus taxes go?

Regarding the Ben Franklin Transit’s deficit for funding the taxi feeder service, maybe their bookkeepers should look for the excess sales tax monies that were identified in a report in September 2018 that was described in your paper. It was reported that sales tax revenue for BFT rose 43 percent between 2009 and 2017 but their expenses rose only 20 percent. What was done with the 23 percent difference and where are those funds now?

Check your cupboards before crying hunger, BFT!