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Letters to the Editor

Paper was duped on ‘Mars closer’ story

Thank you for writing an astronomy-based article in our local paper. As an amateur astronomer I often scour the paper for notes on upcoming stellar events. In this case, however you have been duped by a hoax that resurfaced in early August.

I won’t try to explain how many miles the planet Mars would need to move or the speed it would have taken to launch it the distance this hoax implies. The experts at NASA have explained this hoax far better than I ever could and with much more knowledge on the subject.

Steve Bryant
Peachtree City, Ga.

Hoax . . .

The story on Mars is a hoax. Please refer to this article from NASA for further details: science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/07jul_marshoax.htm

Joe E. Stell
Fayetteville, Ga.

Myth . . .

Some of the information in your article in yesterday’s Citizen is “an example of an item that was once true but is now being circulated again, long after the events it describes have come to pass”, according to Internet myth-debunking service Snopes (see http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp).

Mars had a historic close encounter in August of 2003, not 2005.

Other information was never true in the first place: due to the respective sizes of Mars and the Moon, their relative distances from Earth, and the laws of celestial mechanics, Mars is never going to look “as large as the full moon to the naked eye,” as claimed in your article, at least not until a major cataclysm throws the planets out of their orbits.

I hope none of your readers will get disappointed looking for a Moon-size Mars on Saturday night.

There will be an actual closer approach of Mars in October 2005 (see http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/27may_approachingmars.htm).

I will be glad to direct you to other viable “Internet sources” that can provide you with accurate, current information on matters of astronomy and space flight.

Dr. Jan Osburg
Research Engineer II
Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0150, USA
jan.osburg@asdl.gatech.edu

Check the facts . . .

The Cary story about Mars is NOT true. Your writer picked up on an old story, two years old. Mars will not do all the wonderful things she says it will do. Check the facts, check the facts, check the facts.

Mike Smith
Sydney, Australia

E-mail fooled many ...

Your story, “Mars gets closer,” is based on a hoax e-mail that has been circulating the Internet and has had a lot of people fooled.

This has been published as a hoax for well over a month now on reputable astronomy sites. The story states it is based on various Internet sources.

Can I suggest if you are interested in publishing astronomy stories, especially ones with such hefty claims, that you include professional sources such as universetoday.com or space.com on your list of places to check first?

A. W. Ford
flooredmusic (at) gmail.com

2 years too late . . .

The story about Mars getting closer than ever, Aug. 24 paper, is about two years too late.

This year’s closest approach will be Oct. 29, and although it will be spectacular, it is not a record breaker.

An avid reader and star gazer,

Joan Fecteau
RFecteau (at) JoiMail.com

Tyrone speed limits: Facts don’t mislead

At the last council meeting for Tyrone, I had the misfortune to witness the town council complain to The Citizen’s reporter about her article on Tyrone’s new speed limits. In so many words, they stated it was misleading and making them look bad.

I was at the same budget meeting as Steve Chontos and the writer in question. We all heard Barry Amos mention that there wasn’t enough revenue coming from the police department.

I was startled because I believed police wrote tickets when you did something wrong and not to drum up revenue.

The look on the police chief’s face, who was also present, made me feel he thought the same thing.

Next thing we knew, Barry Amos was at the next town council meeting with the police chief in tow, announcing speed limit changes.

Council, it was not the reporter that made you look bad reporting the facts. It was the facts themselves.

Gail Onesi
Tyrone, Ga.

At-large voting aims at getting minority elected

In last week’s letter to the editor, Mr. Jones’ statement, “In the South, it is common and traditionally undesirable for those in the majority to voluntarily do anything to help those in the minority have a better chance to participate in the affairs of government,” insinuates that the majority of Fayette County residents and the county commissioners are racists.

I believe that our commissioners and our voting process to elect them is best for ALL citizens of Fayette County, regardless of their race.

Mr. Jones and [state Representative Virgil] Fludd seem only to be interested in getting a minority into office, regardless of how qualified they are, while the majority of the citizens of Fayette County are interested in electing the best qualified person for the office who will represent the entire community.

We do not wish our fine community to endure the dysfunctional cesspool that exists in Clayton and Fulton County governments.

Tell me, Mr. Jones, if Fayette County changes to district voting, and a black person gets voted into office in your district, who will represent the minority white, Asian, and Hispanic people in that district? By your reasoning, no one will represent them because a black person will only represent black constituents.

Mr. Jones, the civil rights struggle is over and won and has been for decades. No one is being denied their right to vote or to participate in the affairs of government. Everyone can now fully participate in the political process as a result of the Voting Rights Act. Why do you continue to fight a battle that has already been won?

Matthew Washburn
Fayetteville, Ga.

Direct PAC questions candidates: What’s next for DAPC?

The Development Authority of Peachtree City (DAPC) has been a part of Peachtree City for more than 30 years. Early DAPC efforts focused on attracting industry from Japan, the results of which are evident when one drives along Ga. Highway 74.

For most residents, though, the amphitheater, built in 1976, is a more familiar artifact of the efforts of early Development Authority members.

Another tangible output of DAPC activity is the tennis center, which was built in 1995, partially from funds borrowed from Peachtree National Bank.

The authority managed both venues because of a decision that community amenities such as the tennis center and amphitheater would enhance the appeal of Peachtree City as a destination for expanding or relocating businesses.

Candidates for the authority are typically self-selected, applying at City Hall for available openings and interviewing with the mayor, city manager, and one or more council members. The interview panel recommends and city council and mayor vote on applicants.

The DAPC played a quiet role in Peachtree City until 2003. That year saw repeated accusations of malfeasance, mismanagement, and fraud, followed by cessation of funding from tax revenues, precipitating a financial crisis when the DAPC could no longer meet obligations to its creditors.

Shabby planning that debilitated the DAPC without an operational alternative left many officials at local and state levels scrambling through the first half of 2003 to restructure the authority to allow it to continue its mission of economic development and management of the amphitheater and tennis center.

In September of the year, Scott Bradshaw resigned from DAPC with a blistering criticism of the authority’s financial management. In October the authority resigned from its management contract of the city’s venues.

Later in October, Mayor Brown ordered the Peachtree City Police Department to investigate the authority for fraud. Citing lack of expertise, the city’s chief of police took the case to the forensic accounting division of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The accountants at the Bureau found no fraud.

In February of 2004, the city received a letter from the attorney for Regions Bank, from which the authority had borrowed money, notifying the city “of a potential claim against the Development Authority of Peachtree City, the city of Peachtree City and the Peachtree City Tourism Association, Inc.”

The attorney’s letter states that “Regions Bank declared the loan to be in default for non-payment. The loan is secured by collateral located at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.”

Mayor Brown responded to the letter: “Your customers, the citizens of Peachtree City and the elected officials of Peachtree City, had absolutely nothing to do with your loan to the Development Authority of Peachtree City ... To the best of my knowledge, no officials from the city of Peachtree City have signed as an obligor or guarantor of the loan in question ... I have personally recommended to the City Council that the city should not interfere and allow the DAPC loans to go into foreclosure ... I will never consent to pay off the unlawful and unaccountable actions of the former DAPC Members with the hard-earned tax dollars of my citizens. The grip of the powerful few on our city has almost vanished ... if you decide to continue and pursue legal action against the people of Peachtree City, the people are prepared for the challenge.”

The people are now paying for the challenge. Legal meters are running on both sides of the dispute as Peachtree National Bank and Regions Bank attempt to collect the money they loaned, Group VI Corporation attempts to collect for construction of the tennis center, and Foley Design Associates attempts to collect for architectural design of the tennis center.

The DAPC is an emasculated organization with no funds and less direction. The city is running the amphitheater and tennis center under the guise of a Tourism Association whose members are the city manager, mayor, recreation director, and councilmen. Tourism Association activity is funded by hotel/motel tax revenue.

Where do we go from here?

This is the first in a series of four major issues that will be presented by Direct PAC prior to the November 2005 election in Peachtree City for mayor and two city council positions.

Direct PAC will solicit responses from all candidates on each of the four issues and post the candidates responses on the Web site at www.directpac.org and also submit all responses to the newspaper during October. The purpose of this is to allow the voters to analyze each candidate’s response to serious issues before making a selection from among the candidates in November.

Rex Green
For the Executive Committee of Direct PAC
Peachtree City, Ga.

Under Brown, PTC taxes up, quality of life down

We will soon have the opportunity to vote in the upcoming election for mayor of Peachtree City. It is a critical election because it allows you to address quality of life issues.

The current administration headed by Mayor Steve Brown has caused the quality of life in our fair city to deteriorate significantly and you will end up paying at least 35 percent more in property tax for 2005.

What then are the quality of life issues?

• The expenditure of at least $1.3 million for a bridge over Ga. Highway 54 West. Ask yourself how many people will travel from Line Creek to Wynnmeade and vice versa. We already have a bridge over Ga. Highway 74 that services that area of the city.

• The lack of cart path maintenance throughout the city is scandalous.

• The levying of another tax in requiring cart owners to re-register their golf carts and then every three years thereafter. All because of the misdeeds of a few.

• The failure of the city to honor a moral debt that the Development Authority contracted with a local bank.

• The miserable talent lineup at The Fred that resulted in loss of renewals for season tickets and many empty seats. Then to add insult to injury they now want you to pay more for your tickets through Ticketmaster.

• The loss of membership at the taxpayer-funded Tennis Center due to mismanagement.

• Increased property taxes with no increase in the quality of life.

Richard Downing
Peachtree City, Ga.

Brown administration: Multiple unethical actions

Mayor Steve Brown likes to use the word illegal liberally without presenting facts to back up his statements, but let’s review his administration.

One of the first actions Steve Brown and “His Council,” Steve Rapson and Murray Weed, took was to enact a building moratorium. A judge ruled that moratorium illegal. So much for Murray Weed following the canons of law and not voting for anything illegal.

Steve Rapson was found guilty of an ethics violation within seven months of being elected to office for intentionally voting on an action concerning the Development Authority of Peachtree City he knew he should not participate in.

Steve Brown was found guilty of an ethics violation within a year of taking office for having city staff babysit his children while he did city business.

Council authorized Steve Brown to sign an amendment to the Intergovernmental Agreement with the Development Authority. Brown refused to sign the agreement. Steve Rapson and Murray Weed have done nothing to follow the law by either forcing Brown to sign the agreement or offering a motion to reconsider and rescind the action.

The Intergovernmental Agreement is a contract between the city and the Development Authority. It requires the city to provide hotel/motel tax revenues to the authority. Steve Brown stopped those payments without any action by council.

The agreement is still in force, and Steve Rapson and Murray Weed did nothing to force the city’s compliance with the agreement or terminate it. The Development Authority had to take action to terminate the agreement.

One can conclude with these few facts that Steve Brown, with his cohorts Steve Rapson and Murray Weed, presides over the most corrupt and unethical administration in the city’s history.

John Dufresne
Peachtree City, Ga.

Father Epps, welcome back to Catholic Church

In response to last Friday’s (Aug. 12) article by Father Epps, “Discovering a new church family,” I would suggest a better title would have been, “Discovering an old Church family.”

Father Epps described his various reasons for possibly “not attending” church, including the fact that he would have to attend Mass at the only church in town, a Catholic Church.

In his article, Father Epps did not disparage the Catholic Church in the slightest and, as always, wrote a nice commentary on his experience. However, Father Epps made a statement I must comment on.

Father Epps said, “I didn’t receive Holy Eucharist, a sad reminder that the Church universal is divided, even at the Table.”

The reason we have so many converts to the Catholic Church is precisely because individuals, including hundreds of former “pastors” (visit the Coming Home Network for pastors - www.chnetwork.org), are discovering the truth that the universal Church still exists!

The universal Catholic Church has remained intact through the past 20 centuries, although thousands of denominations have left the Church, creating their own set of rules, their own forms of liturgy and worship.

The reasons Father Epps was not able to receive communion in the Catholic Church involves a number of issues including “apostolic succession” and “Holy Orders.” A discussion on these topics must remain for some other day.

However, I thank Father Epps for respecting the teaching of the Church on the Eucharist, the “source and summit of our Catholic faith” (Catechism of the Catholic Church).

The universal Church welcomes all for a visit, whether in Mexico or any other country. Let me be the first to say, “Welcome home.”

Rick Walker
Peachtree City, Ga.

Liberal, conservative, etc.: What’s in a name?

In a country populated by over 290 million people, we try our best to shoehorn each other into two main political and social ways of thinking: Liberal and conservative.

It’s incredible that one would imagine 290 million opinions could possibly be sorted into two piles.

When we try to conform our opinions into one of these two camps, we run the risk of sacrificing our true beliefs for the sake of partisan politics.

Kevin (Arnold), in “Thank you, Harry Truman,” you had me at “Thank you and God bless you, Harry Truman.” But you lost me at “The liberals need to decide which side they are on.”

What “sides” are you referring to? You mentioned good and evil, civilized and barbaric, and right and wrong along with “Muslim fanatics.”

Way back in 2002 when we were a truly united and focused republic, the overwhelming majority of Dems, Repubs, independents, and Libertarians supported sending our troops to the Al Qaeda and Taliban hotbed of Afghanistan, so I’ll assume you’re referring to the campaign in Iraq.

To paint liberals as against Iraqi occupation and Republicans for the occupation is not true to the many conservatives and independents whose consciences make them uncomfortable with preemptive, discretionary, elective attacks on sovereign nations with power-hungry leaders.

And have no doubt. Invading Iraq was not self-defense against an imminent threat, but failed diplomacy.

I don’t buy the mantra of “fight ‘em in Iraq, not here.” Did jihadists think they weren’t invited to the Afghanistan party?

You warn that the Democratic Party is rudderless and that “the Democratic party worked to get votes from any segment of our population whom they could fool into voting for their nominees.”

I thought Republican politics meant tax cuts AND consequently lower spending. What are taxes doing each year across Fayette GOP County?

We have a conservative-dominated executive, legislative, and judicial branch in this nation, and to show for it? A spend-crazy, ever-expanding federal government. A $12.3 billion energy bill over 10 years, and a $286 billion transportation bill over six years with 6,000 pet projects.

I invite you to win me over to the GOP (conservative) camp. Just help me understand why conservative means freezing the minimum wage circa 1997 at the same time our administration is telling us of robust economic growth.

And help me understand why I keep hearing Social Security warnings, but none on Medicare.

And help me understand how we can crack down on unionized labor and personal bankruptcy while ignoring bankrupt-but-operating corporations driving their competitors toward similar fates.

And all the while we turn blind eyes to executive perks and bonuses in companies bleeding money.

I welcome your collective response, lest I feel we’ve been “fooled into voting for their nominees.”

Kevin King
Peachtree City, Ga.

If not your children, whose should fight?

Terry Garlock has reached the highest level of hypocrisy in his article “Speaking the unspeakable about war” (The Citizen, Aug. 24, 2005).

He must have majored in spin and minored in double talk at the Karl Rove school of Republican values.

How can he criticize Cindy Sheehan for her antiwar activities; back President Bush; and take a pro-war stance while saying, “I wouldn’t give my kids’ lives for the battle of Fallujah or any other battle in any war”?

Just like John Kerry EARNED the right to criticize the Vietnam war, Cindy Sheehan has EARNED the right to criticize President Bush.

So, Mr. Garlock, if not your own children, who’s children would you give to this war? Your neighbor’s kids? My kids? You know they are all somebody’s children, or father, or mother, brother, sister, etc. Why are your children better than any others when it comes to this, or any, war?

Mr. Garlock also wants to blame the media for our loss in Vietnam (and our impending loss in Iraq). That is a cop-out and ignores 100 years of Vietnamese history. What a sad, lame excuse. A little Vietnamese/American history can go a long way.

That doesn’t mean our GI’s didn’t fight in Vietnam honorably or effectively. They did. Exactly like they are doing now in Iraq, and have been doing throughout the history of our country.

But when your leadership takes an immoral and unjust position, the common soldier is fated to be fighting and dying for a cause that can’t succeed. Soldiers have been doing that since war began. They fight for their buddies, not some grand geo-political scheme. Just trying to stay alive and keep their buddies alive.

It’s up to the government through its citizens to make sure their cause is moral and just, and we have failed them.

It is our chicken-hawk Republican President, and our own ambivalence, that has fated our GIs to that very thing in the current war.

I just wish that all the so-called backers of this war would put their money, and their children, where their mouths are. The recruiting offices are open.

And for Mr. Garlock to say, “maybe the President’s sacrifice is sharing the grief with families who lost a loved one,” is just plain preposterous.

How many more GIs have died while he’s on vacation? He has time to bike-ride, attend Little League games, and nap, but no time to meet with Cindy Sheehan?

President Bush has two draft-age children. When he’s lost one of them in war is when he will EARN the right to “share grief” with Cindy Sheehan.

Thomas Finnegan
Fayetteville, Ga.

Mother dishonors her’s son’s service

I have been outraged the past few weeks as I watched a supposedly grieving mother, Cindy Sheehan, camp out in a ditch in Crawford, Texas, with a bunch of her left-wing sycophants, trying to do nothing more than embarrass the President.

George W. Bush met with Mrs. Sheehan in 2003 after the death of her son, Casey, and she said that President Bush was truly saddened by the loss of America’s soldiers and was a man of genuine faith.

It is amazing how different things are today after Michael Moore, Moveon.org, and every other liberal group known to man have hijacked her message and the messenger.

Casey Sheehan’s father raised the boy, not his mother. “Casey and his mother were political opposites almost from the beginning,” said his father.

Casey Sheehan reenlisted after just five months in the army. Such actions prove that he loved being a soldier, understood the danger, and was willing to accept the risk. Unfortunately, he paid the ultimate sacrifice.

America is grateful for Army Spc. Casey Sheehan and all of the other brave men and women who have died in the past while protecting freedom for America or restoring it to others around the world.

Those miserable malcontents down in that ditch in Texas are a disgrace to the memory of these fallen heroes. They look like rejects from the 1960s who have been waiting 40 years for the chance to do it all again. I wonder what it would take for these bleeding heart pacifists to support a war.

Of course, the liberal media is there to witness every move this woman makes. They are portraying Mrs. Sheehan as the ultimate war protester. They are using her and as soon as her 15 minutes of fame are over, they will drop her like yesterday’s garbage.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the soldier. To me, there is no higher calling than to serve in the armed forces of the United States of America. My heart bleeds for those families who have had sons and daughters killed in action in Iraq and every other battlefield where American blood was shed. I want these families to know that the vast majority of Americans feel their loss and honor those that have been lost in battle.

All of those people down in that ditch hate America and her ideals of faith, family, country, and values. They profoundly detest the trinity of patriotism: duty, honor, and country. Thank God they are in the minority of this nation. All of them combined are not worth one single drop of a wounded soldier’s blood.

It has been especially distressing for me to watch this woman disgrace her son’s courageous sacrifice by using his coffin as her personal soapbox to protest the very thing that her son believed in with all of his heart.

Kevin D. Arnold
Fayetteville, Ga.