Climate change; Hurst council; Demeaning ‘Travellers’

Flat earth reasoning

To counter the overwhelming majority opinion of the environmental scientific community that human activity has had a significant effect on global warming, Richard Greene cites the opinion of one (1) person, Patrick Moore, “a leader in the worldwide environmental movement,” who comes to the rather startling conclusion that there “has been no significant warming for 18 years” and that what we really need is even more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. (See “Global warming skeptics expose EPA’s activism,” Sunday)

Really, Mr. Greene? Moore is hardly a universally respected expert on environmental matters. He is essentially a lobbyist for various industrial organizations, and he recently gained some notoriety with his claim that the herbicide, Roundup, is safe to drink. However, when offered a glass, he refused to drink it.

I eagerly anticipate Green’s next exposé, where he will offer conclusive evidence that the earth really is flat.

— William M. Brown, Fort Worth

Hurst council election

Once again, the extremists are trying to infiltrate the Hurst City Council.

Over the years, the council has done a phenomenal job of keeping roads and parks in top condition and providing excellent services. Many of the sitting council brought Hurst a top-rated mall, the best senior center in Dallas/Fort Worth, an expanded library and a highly utilized convention center.

I sincerely hope the fine citizens of Hurst take into consideration the past embarrassment/gridlock of the Watauga council and current embarrassment of the Mansfield council due to the extremists. There’s also the spreading of false propaganda to enforce their damaging ideas of austerity to confuse voters.

Hurst is a top-rated city with an accredited police force, top firefighters/paramedics, a family-friendly Christmas celebration and awesome fireworks displays. Let’s keep it that way. Please support and vote for incumbent Hurst City Council member Henry Wilson in the May election.

— Robert Mills, Hurst

Demeaning ‘Travellers’

Regarding your March 22 story, “Bizarre Colleyville slaying linked to Irish Travellers,” note that “Irish Travellers” is not simply another word for “itinerant con artist.”

They are a small, private and poorly understood ethnic group in the U.S., and it is a violation of basic journalistic ethics to identify their ethnicity unless it is essential to the story — much less to couple it with a series of statements that make it sound like the ethnic group is somehow collectively engaged in criminal activities.

All accusations against Travellers in the story are rooted in conjecture, hearsay, and repeating unsupported accusations about an entire ethnic group, none of which represents good journalism.

Whether or not the accused individuals are guilty of any crime, ethnicity should not be used as an excuse to slander an entire community.

— Max Sparber, Omaha, Neb.

Voucher bill

I believe state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, has an excellent bill to provide $5,200 of state funding per student for families with students in private schools.

I believe opponents wrongly argue the loss of tax dollars for public schools. All parents pay school taxes!

If the private schools were to close down, the public school system would be overwhelmed.

— Hank Merbler, Arlington

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Climate change; Hurst council; Demeaning ‘Travellers’."