City gang problem starkly before us
In your paper's Perspective section of Sunday, (Feb. 5), the Rev. Bill W. Smith, retired jail chaplain, thoughtfully delineates reasons for gang membership.
Earlier in the week, you paraphrased Chattanooga's Police Chief Bobby Dodd's understanding of gang membership, along with his duty to protect the community from crime and violence.
Churches and neighborhood groups are beginning to try to eliminate gangs by dealing with the root causes. I am heartened by the fact that we are no longer expecting the schools to handle the problem alone.
Moreover, I believe that the growing attention being given the problem of gangs is in great part the result of your paper about a year or so ago beginning to consciously headline the violence and gang activity in our community, which before had pretty much been ignored.
You may be accused of sensational journalism, but the problem needed to be brought starkly before us. Thank you.
CLAIRE HALE, Signal Mountain
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Firms can get U.S. tax credit
I respond to a comment written by E. Thomas McClanahan in his column of Feb. 6.
Writing of U.S. companies with foreign operations, he states, "If companies send back to the good ol' USA, they get whacked at the U.S. rate-even after those same profits have been taxed by the host country."
Generally that is true, but what he failed to point out is that the same U.S. companies may claim a deduction, or a dollar for dollar credit against their U.S. income tax liability as provided by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
ARCHIE THURMAN
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Believers in God want to point way
Last Sunday's commentary by Gareth Cook, "Atheism and Politics: In Godless We Don't Trust," was interesting and pathetic.
Mr. Cook gave statistics regarding the affinity of most Americans not wanting to vote for a presidential candidate who is an avowed atheist. According to Mr. Cook, believers in God "do the right thing" because they are afraid of God, Who is ready to zap them if they make a mistake.
May I suggest that contrary to what Mr. Cook thinks, most believers in God "do the right thing" out of love for their fellow man, put the well-being of others ahead of themselves, feel honesty is paramount, and follow Godly instruction as a way of life.
All believers fall short of this, but when confronted with our failures, we aspire to do better -- to please our loving Father and to not besmirch the name which is above all names. We try to act with Godly wisdom, not fear of God's wrath. We want to do better and to show to the world around us that his way truly is the better way.
As far as not wanting an atheist president, believers want a leader who will seek Godly guidance.
JO-ANN DEDMON, Hiawassee, Ga.
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How is Fox News false, misleading?
Bashing Fox News claiming its broadcasts are false and misleading is a continuation from the left (letter, Feb. 5), spewing hatred with no facts.
Open up and state what is misleading with proof rather than just running off at the mouth -- which seems to be what liberals do best.
What has it said or done specifically that is an error or untrue?
JIM SIMS
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Moon Slew always great
I have attended more Moon Slew shows than I can recall. I have watched as musicians and friends leave the band and new musicians and future friends enter. Each new arrangement brings different sounds that add to the richness and flavor of this special group of good people and fantastic musicians.
Friday Night, Moon Slew will be performing at the Camp House. I am certainly looking forward to it as I have heard great things about the venue. Do yourself a favor and get to the show. I promise it will be good for your soul.
KEN CRISP, North Chattanooga
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U.S. will falter without God
The Perspective section (Feb. 5) contained an article by Gareth Cook about religious prejudice in the voting populace of our nation.
Mr. Cook expounds on how America has overcome its prejudices concerning minority groups such as women, blacks, gays and anti-atheism.
He states, "I feel tremendous pride to live in a country that can go, in a few generations, from lynching black men to electing a black man to the highest office. I would be prouder still if, some day, we could elect a president who believes in making America great by making it good, but who does not believe in God."
This last sentence raised my hackles and caused me to recall memories of presidencies I have lived under.
Dec. 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed Congress: "We will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God!"
Dwight Eisenhower once stated, "Before all else we seek, upon our common labor as a nation, the blessings of almighty God!"
Ronald Reagan said, "Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged."
Our nation is already on a slippery slope. Elect an atheist, remove the nation's motto "In God We Trust," and see where that road will lead you.
DARDEN NEWMAN, Signal Mountain
JIM SIMS, On November 18, 2009, Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett told viewers that a Sarah Palin book signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan had a massive turnout while showing footage of Palin with a large crowd. The video was actually taken from a 2008 McCain/Palin campaign rally.
Jon Stewart reported on his November 10, 2009 broadcast of The Daily Show that Fox News pundit Sean Hannity misrepresented video footage purportedly showing large crowds on a health-care protest orchestrated by Rep. Michele Bachmann. Stewart showed inconsistencies in alternating shots according to the color of the sky and tree leaves, showing that spliced in the shots was footage from Glenn Beck's much larger 9/12 rally which had occurred two months earlier.
I wouldn't say they are so much "Wrong" (Although there are two examples) I would say that they are bias favoring the political right and the Republican Party.
This means they are not a news outlet they are a political platform, as NEWS is supposed to be unbiased.
Wow those are stunning evidences of FOX's biased and unfair tactics. How many times have the other media outlets been not only guilty but called on their biased and misleading reporting only to dismiss or belittle ones who called their hand? So when you throw stones at others, just remember the stones thrown by the opposing side. In the end, we get less than stellar credible reporting and who really knows what is going on in the country? As for the godly leaders in office, we have purportedly had some yet saw our nation continue on a path away from the "straight and narrow." It is really what lies in people's hearts which dictates where we are headed. Sadly, more and more set their hearts on things they see/hear on television, blogspots, twitterrama etc. Few ever want to face the truth and especially when it is about themelves. The US has a long long walk to get back on the right track and currently there appears to be NO ONE on either side who is capable of doing that. Meanwhile, leftests chant "It's our man/woman!" The right claims, "Just give us a chance!" The country continues on down the slippery slope with no one really taking seriously how far we have strayed.
Dear, Dear Darden -
Quoting a senile politician yakking about god was your first mistake. Invoking the mythical xtian deity is a favorite ploy of politicians since they feel it always cloaks them in some aura of perceived moral superiority or truthfulness. The perception is that it aligns them with the assumed believing majority. The fact that it projects offense toward fifteen percent of Americans who reject such bat guano craziness is seemingly of no concern to them, no matter how unAmerican it really is.
You got one thing right, though. America is on a slippery slope ... toward fascism, driven by the xtian right wing with its coercive "all or nothing, might makes right, if we don't coddle Israel we're doomed" approach to everything.
As a proud American atheist, I join with Mr. Cook in hoping that this country will evolve (oops, sorry) toward a truly humanistic ideal devoid of the curse of tribal religions. For, as I often say, if humanity does not mature beyond tribal religions, it may not have the opportunity to mature at all.
Oh, and some of us reject what you claim as America's national motto, since it was foist upon us by religious zealots in the 1950s in place of the original one much better suited to our nation: E Pluribus Unum. That vile act voided the most basic principle of our government from the lack of which it suffers greatly today.
Livn4life
The Project on Excellence in Journalism report in 2006 showed that 68 percent of Fox cable stories contained personal opinions, as compared to MSNBC at 27 percent and CNN at 4 percent.
If the majority of your content is opinion, then you are not a news network, you are an Opinion outlet not a News outlet. Plain and simple. Fox News is not news. We are talking about a news channel that spent a day attacking the Muppets.
Here is the difference: NEWS: a report of a recent event; intelligence; information
OPINION: a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
Fox is nothing more that a political opinion network, and if they billed themselves as that I'd have no issues with it.
We are concerned that the Muslim Brotherhood may gain control of recently revolted North African/Middle Eastern countries. Meanwhile, in the U.S., no one can hope for political success without first professing Judao-Christianity. We fear Sharia Law but want to hang the Ten Commandments in our courthouses and allow the Catholic Church to set standards for reproductive health.
To Jim Sims and all other fox watchers, regarding Fox News Bashing and proof:
If it is their right to lie, it is my right to never believe them.
"During their appeal, FOX asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves. Fox attorneys did not dispute Akre’s claim that they pressured her to broadcast a false story, they simply maintained that it was their right to do so. After the appeal verdict WTVT general manager Bob Linger commented, “It’s vindication for WTVT, and we’re very pleased… It’s the case we’ve been making for two years. She never had a legal claim.”" http://www.relfe.com/media_can_legally_lie.html
So they made her lie for her job. When she called them out on it, their defense is that they don't have to tell the truth.
There are lists of their lies, spins, and twists all over the internet. You can see examples of how they replaced footage just to make their story believable. http://foxnewslies.net/ http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/12/28/11-biggest-lies-2011/ http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/5123-fox-news-lies-keep-them-out-of-canada http://www.unelected.org/fox-news-lies-about-patriot-act-renewal-vote
Murdock's empire is crumbling. I have lost track of who is in jail and who is not. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/13/phone-hacking-scandals-far-reaching-tentacles/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098091/Rupert-Murdochs-News-Corp-hands-police-documents-recording-100k-payments-police.html
Livn4life said...
"Wow those are stunning evidences of FOX's biased and unfair tactics. How many times have the other media outlets been not only guilty but called on their biased and misleading reporting only to dismiss or belittle ones who called their hand?"
Well I don't know the answer to that. Won't you please give some examples because I can't recall any of those times.
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