Stop whining & count blessings
I come from peasant stock. During most of my childhood, we did not enjoy the luxury of indoor plumbing, and I’m sure we were among the last families in Cherokee County to abandon the little brown shack out back. In fact, my grandparents never lived in a fully plumbed house.
We always had food on the table but with little variety. Lots of beans, taters, hog meat and wild game.
It wasn’t always easy growing up in those days. But as my family clawed its way from upper lower class to lower middle class, there were always expressions of thankfulness for what we did have.
I don’t recall any whining or complaining like we hear so much of today. “My cable bill is too high! Gas is too high! Groceries cost too much! I can’t find my favorite brand of crackers! We need a new president!” And on and on.
It used to be that people wished success for our president regardless of political party. Now, no matter which party is in control, half the people want the other party to be in charge. And many express their opinions in a hateful, even vile manner.
We are richly blessed in our country, and we need to stop with the whining. You could take away my home, all my money, separate me from family and friends with no way to contact them, and set me down in any town in the United States with only the clothes on my back, and I would still be better off than the majority of the people in the world.
The pulpit preaches that there’ll come a day of judgment. When that day comes, we should meet our Maker with an attitude of gratitude for our many blessings.
Dave Hogan, Lake Junaluska
The writer grew up in Andrews.
No electric cars for me
I’m not a fan of electric vehicles. A huge battery plant is opening in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the auto industry is very eager to build the biggest and best. Climate change alarmists claim: “All car sales will be electric by the year 2040” – heaven forbid.
President Joe Biden’s administration is disrupting vehicle supply and demand curves by offering a $7,500 discount on purchasing certain fully electric or hybrid vehicles. The recent infrastructure bill allocates $5 billion to build local charging stations.
Do we really want government in the “electric filling-station” business? These policies are a “red herring” for destroying capitalism by interrupting the supply of fossil fuel.
Studies show the yearly costs of operating an EV versus a gas-powered car are the same. Einstein’s relativity formula, E=mc2, proves it takes the same amount of energy to move a 5,000-pound gasoline-driven automobile a mile as it does an electric one. The primary question is, what produces the power?
Combustion engines operate on fossil fuels stored in the gas tank. Toxic gases are limited by sophisticated emission-control systems. EVs are powered by large batteries or Energy Storage Systems. Batteries do not generate electricity – they store electricity produced elsewhere, primarily by coal, uranium, natural gas-powered plants, cogeneration plants or diesel-fueled generators. To reiterate, the battery is only the storage device, like the car gas tank.
EV battery manufacturing spawns environmental damage. They aren’t as “Clean or Green” as coal, natural gas and nuclear power. If all U.S. vehicles are powered by batteries, fossil and nuclear fueled power plants are still required to produce stable electrical grid power levels for EV battery recharging stations.
There may be a place for EV battery technology, but you must look beyond the myths of zero emissions and “New Green Deal” politics.
Terry Payne, Marble
Finding right eggs for Easter
Families across the country are hopping at the chance to celebrate the onset of spring, complete with sunny days, blooming flowers and Easter egg hunts. However, as you dye eggs and hide them in the backyard, have you ever considered where those eggs come from?
There’s a good chance you have. In fact, some 95 percent of Americans – 84 percent of whom will be celebrating Easter – are concerned about the treatment of animals on farms and ranches. So, it’s particularly heartening to know that when perusing the aisles of the grocery store, shoppers can take an active role in the promotion of farm animal welfare by seeking out and purchasing eggs from farmers who treat their birds with care.
The standards that American Humane Certified farmers adhere to were developed by an independent, credible Scientific Advisory Committee made up of the world’s leading animal experts so that consumers can rest easy. American Humane Certified farmers must comply with more than 200 rigorous standards that help ensure adequate space, air and water quality, heating, lighting, shade and the animals’ ability to engage in natural behavior. We recommend that all ethically minded consumers look for the American Humane Certified label when buying eggs in stores.
During holidays like Easter, it is especially important for families to recognize the ways their decisions impact animals, and to make conscientious, intentional choices to build a more humane world.
Dr. Robin Ganzert, Washington
The writer is president and chief executive officer of American Humane.