We must continue to protect the Okefenokee
I fully support adding 22,000 acres along the “Trail Ridge” area to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge’s “acquisition boundary.”
It is critical that Georgia support its natural beauty and ecology, not only for the present but also for generations to come. It would be a travesty to continue to destroy the natural beauty and ecology of our state for the short-term gains and destruction brought on by mining.
I agree 100% with Sen. Jon Ossoff’s statement that the Okefenokee might be “the most famous and beloved natural resource that we have.” We must continue to protect it.
SALPI ADROUNY, M.D., JOHNS CREEK
Let’s focus on controlling guns, not transgender athletes
Why are we so fixated on transgender students in sports? No one has ever given the number of students involved. One per county? Ten per state?
Meanwhile, there is another school shooting, but Gov. Brian Kemp said last spring: “Now is not the time.” When is the time for gun control, or are we so obsessed with transgender students we don’t have sight of the real problems? Wake up, Georgia!
MARTY BRYAN, TUCKER
Insurance model — not health care — is the problem
I keep reading that our health care system is broken. I know many outstanding providers and caregivers who are also patients in the very profitable health insurance system. In my view, it is the insurance model that has led to these professionals being told their care system is broken. Let’s choose precise words so we don’t demoralize providers.
The insurance market, in a capitalist society, pays top leadership millions of dollars and its stockholders even more, always at the expense of the stakeholders: people paying premiums and navigating complicated deductibles, copays and prior authorization, whose prescriptions can be arbitrarily swapped by people who are not licensed or trained to make these decisions.
More than one board-certified care provider has told me that this interference in their work is not legal and is outright profiteering.
Could it be that something else in America is broken when too many are just one health crisis away from bankruptcy?
ELLEN V. HARRISON, GROVETOWN
Day care settlement could affect other families
I read the article about the day care, Smarter Kids, paying a fine and accepting an autistic child into their program (“Georgia day care agrees to settlement after allegations it denied autistic child entry,” Dec. 2). The owner admitted that she could not afford a lawyer, so she settled. Now the program will incur extra costs to accommodate the 2-year-old toddler who will require special attention. The only problem is that the day care might not be able to continue operations because of the extra expenses.
This closure of the day care will hurt the other families because they do not have any other option for their children. Thus, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
WILLIAM MONEIT, PEACHTREE CORNERS
Trump marketing machine is gearing up
Even before taking office, the president-elect has been laying the groundwork to turn the Oval Office into a marketing subsidiary of Trump Enterprises.
Given that some of his followers have actually called President-elect Donald Trump “the second coming,” it’s like Jesus selling autographed copies of the Sermon on the Mount. Or, after casting out money changers from the temple, Jesus granting an exclusive license to his benefactor. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his kleptocrat cronies must be taking notes.
This sordid behavior by the soon-to-be most powerful leader in the world is not surprising based on his first term. Sadly, naive Americans who voted for him actually think he wants to help them.
J.R. THOMSON, MARIETTA
