The Christmas season; who are we?; too early for kids; Christmas armistice; indefensible Congress

The Christmas season

Responding to “The Christmas season” letter by Jerry Schmidt on Sunday, I believe that the phrase in question “Jesus is the reason for the season” remains accurately associated with Christmas.

The response came about due to the excessive commercialization of the holiday season, which from a promotion and economic standpoint is driven by Christmas.

— John Dooley, Bedford

Too early for kids

After two-and-half years advocating for healthier school start times in Arlington, the district created the school start time committee.

The committee concluded the current high school start time has resulted in adolescent sleep deprivation due to their delayed circadian sleep cycle.

This deprivation impairs cognitive abilities, increases stimulant use, increases tardies/absences, increases athletic injuries, creates health-related issues and increases teen auto accidents.

These conclusions are based on 30 years of adolescent sleep research. Little research exists indicating early school start times are healthy.

The committee recommended all high schools start after 8 a.m. and the order of schools in the tiered system be re-evaluated.

Despite the research, 500 petition supporters, and a committee of 40 recommending healthier hours for teens, the district has no time frame to implement a change.

It is unconscionable for Arlington ISD to continue to set school start times that jeopardize the health, safety and academic success of our children.

During winter solstice, sunrise is 7:30 a.m. The first Arlington bus pickup is 6:30 a.m. Many walk along darkened streets with no sidewalks to get to those bus stops. Administrative offices for the district open at 8:00 a.m.

Oh, if students could be so fortunate.

— Debbie O. Moore, Arlington

Who are we?

How noble it sounds: “That’s not who we are.”

Let the government release a full disclosure report detailing the legal, cruel, tortuous murder committed thousands of times a day in “clinics” across our country and then we would see as a matter of fact, that is exactly who we are.

And, yes, it’s definitely a baby. Everyone will see for themselves when the report is released.

What a bunch of hypocrites we are.

— Margaret M. Davis, Weatherford

Christmas armistice

During WWI, American troops were in France. German troops were also in France. They lived in trenches. The fighting was brutal, with heavy casualties on both sides.

Then, as Christmas neared, both sides began to sing Christmas carols. They moved out of the trenches and walked the field until they met. Americans and Germans shook hands. The spirit of Christmas prevailed. Their war halted briefly. My dad told me the story. He was there — a young soldier from Mississippi.

All of those men are long gone. Through the mercy of God, may they rest in peace.

— John Tapley, Arlington

Indefensible Congress

OK, now let me see if I got this right:

Congress passes a bill that de-funds Homeland Security in February, while demanding the department does more about immigration

Congress decreases military enlistments, while demanding DOD force out those fine young women and men who stepped from enlisted to officer rank when the country needed them to lead their teams through the last few wars, then expects those same fine folks to accept that forced retirement at the lower enlisted rank, rather than the better-paid officer rank

Congress, with great fanfare, allows the VA to pretend the fiasco in Colorado is not really as bad as first thought. Then it says nothing when the contractor for the VA hospital threatens to walk off the job leaving the hospital unfinished after VA changes the design, nearly doubling the cost without increasing the contract — acts surprised when the truth about the fiasco about the deaths linked to the VA’s inaction is actually worse than first reported — while those same VA bigwigs collect huge bonuses.

Congress threatens to impeach the president actually trying to help.

Sounds like Scrooge, not representative to me.

— John Dilbeck, Fort Worth

This story was originally published December 23, 2014 at 5:23 PM with the headline "The Christmas season; who are we?; too early for kids; Christmas armistice; indefensible Congress."