Promote Agenda 21 and the nation loses

Agenda 21 is a plan to abolish private property in the U.S.A. and to allow the usage of all land to be determined by the United Nations.

This plan has been in effect for several years and has been sold to an unsuspecting public as "sustainable development." This plan is being promoted by the establishment, which includes the mainstream news media and both political parties.

There is only one presidential candidate who understands this problem and for many years has worked to get the U.S. out of the U.N. But all the establishment puppets have told us thousands of times that this particular candidate can't win.

Question: Do we win with another candidate who endorses and promotes Agenda 21?

HAYDEN POE

Soddy-Daisy

Hixson students doing their part

Sandy Barnwell is a highly effective administrator at Hixson Middle School, and she works very hard setting high standards for staff and students alike.

The past week, one of the focuses was proper care for the new building generously provided by the county four years ago.

Some of the students were not as diligent regarding the trash as they should have been, and Ms. Barnwell addressed the issue in morning announcements.

Jenna and Kinsey certainly took the matter to heart when they wrote Mr. Jackson, our hardworking custodian, a very kind note detailing a plan. They volunteered to pick up paper near the area where they eat each day to help.

He was very touched by their concern, as was the staff.

These girls demonstrated great character by internalizing Ms. Barnwell's message and putting forth an effort to help.

Sometimes it takes just a very simple gesture to summon positive change. Acts of kindness and consideration are common at Hixson Middle, and we are proud of these two girls for stepping up for the right reasons.

Accentuating the positive is an ongoing initiative at the school and bringing out the best a constant goal.

JIM THOMPSON

Soddy-Daisy

You can't always find answers in past

Feb. 22's editorial, "Putting children at a disadvantage," displays the same backward-looking attitude toward realities in Hamilton County life as do several of our current county commissioners.

Statistics from an MSU (Michigan State University) study show that almost two-thirds of American children will spend some time in single-parent households. In Hamilton County, 35 percent of children live in single-parent households (County Health Ratings project, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute).

No one contests the advantages of healthy, two-parent households. However, the nuclear family of the '50s is no longer the only model. Demanding a return to a time that is "no more than a dream remembered" simply diverts attention from problems that confront our community as it is now.

The needs of all of our families, however defined, need to be a priority for the Hamilton County Commission. We need leaders who represent all of Hamilton County -- not just the segment looking to the past for answers.

MITZI YATES

Hixson

American Christianity real

Cal Thomas delivered a denunciation of the practice of Christianity in America in his commentary of Jan. 25, denouncing dedicated evangelical Christians in the United States as being "off base," superficial and not worthy of, in his words, genuine "real" Christians in other parts of the world, where Christians are even in peril for their very lives.

Mr. Thomas is right about the awful persecution of Christians, especially in Muslim-controlled regions, but he is dead wrong in berating those of us fortunate enough to live in America where Christians and all religions are free to worship God in their own way, without fear of reprisal or physical harm.

Yes, all the missionaries in foreign lands, witnessing for the Lord Jesus, are truly heroes of the faith. But where, Mr. Thomas, do those missionaries come from?

Most of them come from the United States of America, that's where!

And Tim Tebow, who you, Mr. Thomas, so roundly criticized for kneeling on his knee in prayer after a ball game, was reared in a missionary's home, and today he is super active in supporting missions for Christ.

So much for superficial American Christianity. It appears pretty deep and real to me.

DAVID KING

Fox 'lies' picked out of context

I view with skepticism the letters pointing out the lies on Fox News. The "lies" seemed plucked out of context, so I'm assuming the writers who speak with such knowledge are watching Fox daily.

If they are not, where do they get their information? Do they think the broadcasts from other news sources are the unvarnished truth? If so, I have some swamp land for sale.

SHARON S. GUY

Charleston, Tenn.

Pipeline wouldn't create wasteland

I was disappointed by President Obama's not welcoming the oil pipeline coming from Canada. The pipeline could be routed around sensitive areas on its way to Texas where most refineries reside.

If there is an oil surplus, why have Iran's antics caused our gas prices to rise?

Many out-of-work people would be willing to move for a job. The wages are usually above average. The U.S.A. is criss-crossed with pipelines, and we haven't seen a wasteland yet.

The ranches and farms are threatened by high fuel prices that affect the cost of feed and harvesting, not because of a pipeline. Most land owners can plant right up to this right-of-way.

If you were looking out for your children and their children, you would not want them to be dependent on foreign oil.

The immigration laws should be enforced. The farmers will have to pay wages that will attract the American workers. This cost will be passed along to you, but jobs will be created.

I'm not defending BP. It was a tragic blow to our environment but it came from a deep-water drilling rig, not a pipeline.

The only wasteland I see is the one coming by letting China and other foreign countries control our future.

STEVE PICKENS

Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.

Give praise when people still alive

After much ridicule and mockery, Whitney Houston is finally getting the praise she deserves.

This is usually the case once a celebrity dies. Much of the praise that she received at her funeral would have been welcomed and could have been potential in preventing her death, had she heard it while she was still living.

Reading about Houston's home-going ceremony is very touching ("Whitney Houston's voice soars at hometown funeral," (Page A2, Feb. 18), but I must point out that in recent years, she received much criticism from the same media sources that now are reverencing her.

Days before she died, media sources were speculating that she "fell off." This along with the initial cruelty and relentlessness of the media could have played a part in her death. Yet, now, the media along with the rest of the world realizes what an iconic figure Houston was.

This should be a lesson to the media not to wait until someone's death to give them flowers.

DIANE TATE