No War in Iran
The Netanyahu regime has decided that it is in their security interests to attack Iran. The Israeli prime minister is undermining President Trump’s attempt to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and, at the same time, exploiting America’s close ties with Israel to drag the U.S. into yet another Middle Eastern war using the billions of dollars of military equipment supplied to them by the United States.
Has our involvement in the continuous conflicts in the Middle East taught us anything? Since before 9/11, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, Americans have spent trillions of dollars, lost thousands of military personnel and killed unknown numbers of innocent civilians in conflicts in the Middle East. And what have we accomplished? Nothing but chaos and a much more dangerous world.
No American should support any effort by our elected representatives, either Republican or Democrat, which will lead us into another war in the Middle East. We all should heed the prophet Isaiah’s words: “…and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” (Isaiah 2:4).
Robert B. Covi
Bogart
Broad Reforms Needed to Halt Fentanyl
I spent 20 years working in the criminal justice system doing social work and criminal supervision for local and state courts, the majority for drug offenses during the height of the crack epidemic. A year of that time was in a lockdown facility. I understand more than most the power of illegal substances over people.
I once witnessed a man lie down across railroad tracks as I walked on my way to lunch. He got up just in time before a freight train came roaring over the same tracks. Then I saw him do it again. Obviously he was practicing to commit suicide. But then after lunch, I returned to my office just in time to witness him again quickly lie down in front of another coming train. He was violently struck and dragged a full city block as the train engineer tried desperately to stop. His body was charred and cut in half. I later learned he had relapsed at a local drug treatment program, where he was terminated from their care that same day.
For the remainder of my employment I was assigned several thousand cases of drug dealers and users to supervise and place in addiction treatment. I was aware of many events where contraband was introduced into the jail environment. There are many breaches, no matter how sophisticated the methods of interdiction.
Yes, one easy way is for staff to bring drugs in, another is through visitors, and one is by mail, also by way of inmates returning from outside duties. I agree that constant checking of staff coming and going in the jail is one way to slow it. However, there are many ways, which are only limited by a person’s imagination. The staff must have adequate pay. There must be enough staff and detection devices to monitor everyone at the jail. With the increase in funding recently granted by the county commissioners, there should be a major improvement. When that money kicks in, it is up to the sheriff to use it efficiently.
If you consider that a lethal dose of fentanyl is about the size of a period on this page, you realize it is very easy to miss it coming into any lockdown facility. If the demand for mind-altering drugs were significantly reduced, this problem would also be. Education and treatment helps. But the overall reality is that the economic system we live in, where millions of people are struggling to survive, propagates drug addicts. Yes, law enforcement, the courts, the jails, government in general and society must do better to abate the desire of people to resort to drugs to escape hopelessness in America.
The community of Athens must do everything possible to stop deaths in custody—from the inside to the outside.
Dwight Acey
Athens
We Can Afford a Universal Basic Income
We’re told that programs like Universal Basic Income (UBI) are too expensive. That there’s just not enough money to help people directly. But that’s a lie—and here’s the proof.
Who: Powerful Democratic figures like Nancy Pelosi, Stacey Abrams, Hillary Clinton and Bob Menendez.
What: They’ve funneled, redirected or personally gained from millions—sometimes billions—of dollars through insider trading, corrupt nonprofits and “charitable” foundations.
Where: Pelosi’s husband made tens of millions trading stocks tied to legislation she controlled in D.C. Abrams’ nonprofit paid $9.4 million to her friend’s law firm. Another organization linked to her illegally spent $3.2 million and was fined. The Clinton Foundation raised hundreds of millions for Haiti after the earthquake, but most of the money never reached the people. Menendez was indicted for taking gold bars and cash in exchange for political favors in the U.S. Senate.
When: This isn’t old history. Pelosi’s most profitable trades were in 2023 and 2024. The Abrams fine was just issued. Menendez was indicted this year. The Clinton Foundation’s Haiti failure is still unfolding.
Why: Because the system is designed to enrich them, not you. They create fake causes, pass insider laws and use public crises to move money through political machines, all while telling the rest of us to wait, be patient or work harder. They say we can’t afford UBI. But if we simply stopped the theft, we could give millions of Americans $1,500 a month permanently. It’s not a funding problem. It’s a corruption problem. And at the end of the day, here’s the truth no one wants to say: It’s your money, but they steal it.
Michael Kevin Kelley
Hoschton
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