Greatest. Article. Ever.

Editor,

I’ve been reading Connect for 3 years now, and of all the articles I have read, Jim Reed’s “Paradise lost? No such luck” is by far the best.

Thank you for cutting out the fluff to make way for brutal honesty. Maybe the tourists would have preferred something more happy-go-lucky, but I embrace the notion that this came straight from the heart, with undeniable relevancy to Savannah residents.

The article addresses an issue that is somewhat taboo with local media, and I applaud that you have the guts to publish it.

Horses in heat

Editor,

Does anybody else’s heart hurt when seeing Savannah’s horses dragging around tons of Paula Deen-engorged tourists on the asphalt in this heat? On top of that, I feel like I see the same horses out at 9 a.m. that I do at 11 p.m. every day of the week.

Do they ever get a break? Sadly, I think probably not.

Somebody once said (I think George Bernard Shaw) that one can judge how evolved a society is by the way it cares for its animals. Any thoughts on where to begin in Savannah in creating change in the way it treats its horses?

I don’t want to put anyone out of a job but can we just exercise a little decency by taking them off the streets when the mercury hits a certain point? What about just offering morning and evening rides in the hottest summer months?

Or do we just continue to drive these wonderful creatures into the ground in pursuit of the almighty buck?

Many cities that have carriage rides available take its horses off the streets when the mercury hits a certain temp (NYC, Philadelphia, possibly even Charleston, etc.). Or does Savannah just continue to be a non-enlightened, non-recycling, conservative-to the-point-of-being-stymied backwater?

And now a word from Narconon

Editor:

Did you know that there are over 23 million Americans considered to have substance abuse problems right now? Did you know that there are over 1 million people in this country receiving substance abuse treatment right now?

Did you know that the United States has the highest jail/prison population in the world and that roughly 80% of that population is incarcerated either directly or indirectly for issues involving substance abuse?

My name is Emily Milburn, I am 19, and I used to be a statistic. I was 13 years old when I first started using drugs. My substance abuse problems finally landed me in jail.

My family was devastated. They did not understand why I was making such poor choices. They did not know what to do or where to turn. They were confused, they were disappointed, but more than anything they just wanted to get me some help!

Fortunately for my family and ultimately for me, there are avenues readily available for people to get help in our great country. Newspapers, television stations, radio broadcasts, the internet, all of these outlets made it possible for my family to do their research and find the right program for me. And it worked!

I graduated from the Narconon program and have been doing great since. My family chose this specific program because of its unique and non-traditional approach that specialized in my type of addiction and because it has a success rate of over 70%.

I want your readers to know that there is always hope and there is always something that can be done about addiction issues. If you are tired of watching someone you love lose everything in life that matters then do something about it now!

Narconon provides free addiction counseling, local referrals, and residential treatment and can be reached at www.stopaddiction.com or 1-800-468-6933.