On swine flu, Harry Reid, Wall Street pay and Halloween

To the editor:

Now they tell us. There is a shortage of H1N1 "swine flu" vaccine shots.

Weren't we told there would be plenty of the vaccine for everybody?

And that certain groups of Americans would be required to get their shots?

Well, anyone who wants it can have my flu shot. I don't plan to get one. I had my first and only flu shot 60 years ago. It gave me the flu.

Could the "swine flu" epidemic scare be overblown? The news media never miss a chance to report the latest count of deaths from "swine flu -- including, tragically, young children. But rarely do you hear how many deaths there are from just plain seasonal flu.

According to Thursday's Review-Journal there are an estimated 36,000 deaths every year from seasonal fu. But that's not called an epidemic. That's normal.

JANE HAM

LAS VEGAS

Bush's fault

To the editor:

I'm extremely sick and tired of hearing all the negativity about the Obama administration and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Let's not forget the financial debacle our country went through thanks to George W. Bush.

It will take -- and you can quote me on this -- a minimum of four years to start a turnaround.

Given what President Barack Obama walked into, I think he's doing a hell of a job so far. People should develop some intelligence and wait to criticize at least two to three years into a term because it will take a minimum of four years to fix the previous administration's mess.

BRYON WATKINS

LAS VEGAS

Reid pandering

To the editor:

We are being inundated with media stories about Sen. Harry Reid, and there's still a year to go before we can vote him out of office. With his obsession about forcing government-controlled health care on the unwilling and unwitting taking so much of his time, it's a wonder that he has time to campaign. But he manages to get his name and face in the news on a daily basis.

Whatever his intent, he seems unaware that he is a pawn for Barack Obama and his posse of unelected czars and secretive backers. Whatever happens with health care, Harry Reid will be deemed at fault -- if it isn't adopted, it is his fault; if it is adopted and becomes a financial nightmare, as it surely will, his fingerprints will be on it.

Sen. Reid may feel he is doing something worthwhile and needed, but there is nothing noble in his quest for universal health care, by whatever name it's called.

He presumes too much when he takes credit for improving the lot of Nevadans -- e.g., he boasts of sending millions here for "green jobs," but the millions he "sends" are a small portion of what the citizens of Nevada send to Washington.

He boasts of stopping a coal-fired power plant and the Yucca Mountain Project, but fails to mention those put out of work because of his actions.

We voters will not forget his bluffing and pandering. To use his own words in the context of his campaign, "This war is lost" -- and he might as well wind it down.

Vernon Clayson

LAS VEGAS

Pay czar

To the editor:

With regard to the current discussion about regulating compensation for top-level executives, why not set salaries as a percentage of what the lowest paid full-time employee earns?

For example, if the lowest paid employee earns $12,000 per year, CEO salary would then be, say, no more than 1,000 times that amount, or $12 million per year. Similarly, CEO bonuses could be set in terms of a percentage at no more than say, 100 percent of their salary, or in this case, $12 million.

Of course, the actual percentage would be a matter of negotiation. My point is that the concept of using percentages may be a useful and fair way to set compensation.

Phil emanuel

LAS VEGAS

Religion lesson

To the editor:

In response to Tim Storey's Thursday letter on Halloween, "Evil holiday":

Had Mr. Storey studied without prejudice, he would have found that Pagans don't believe in Satan or the devil. Satan is part of the Judeo-Christian religions and their mythology. Those who do worship the devil are worshipping the evil side of a Christian belief, not a Pagan one.

I am not a Pagan, but I admire the fact that they worship nature and have a commitment to live in harmony with the Earth and her creatures. Pagan faiths were part of ancient Mediterranean culture. Ringing of bells, decorating pines, sprinkling of holy water, baptism, Easter, bread and wine, miracle-working sons of God, born of a mortal woman, were common elements of pre-Christian Pagan religion. They had these elements in their faith for generations, even centuries before Jesus was born.

Just because a group worships a different god, gods or goddess does not make its members evil. This is the type of justification used by the Taliban and other religious fanatics that wreak terror over the Earth on a daily basis. I would rather they were all Pagans. The world would be a much more peaceful place.

Ricky Kendall

LAS VEGAS

Home sweet home

To the editor:

I want to sell my home. But with foreclosures all over my neighborhood selling for less than I paid for my place in 1994, I can buy at least two -- if not three -- homes for the amount of money owed on my home.

Why should I keep making payments on my home that has an interest-only loan? Even with interest rates being low, I still could rent a home in my area for less than my monthly note.

I live within my means so I am not living in a palace, complaining. But who is going to bail me out?

Rich Krikalo

LAS VEGAS