To the editor:
Tuesday’s Review-Journal spotlighted Publisher Sherman Frederick’s campaign against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, with headlines about a non-issue from 2008, and then quotes from Michael Steele, the saddest political joke of the century, saying Sen. Reid is “out of touch.”
Gee, Mr. Frederick, your bias is showing.
Meanwhile, Sen. Reid is out there with NV Energy and LS Power announcing full access and co-ownership of a 500-kilovolt line of power linking Northern and Southern Nevada and rural areas to cities for efficiency’s sake.
Guess who was doing the most good for the most people on Monday?
Diane Shaul
HENDERSON
On fire
To the editor:
A reduction in firefighter pay, in my opinion, should be out of the question in reducing local government budgets. They have training in many areas of rescue operations, and generally have to struggle with the weight of extra gear, extremes of ambient temperature, etc.
In spite of the earnings, the average working life of a firefighter ends around 45. Like heavy construction work, firefighting leads the body to start breaking down, and unless there is a desk job available, the older man just cannot huff up the stairs or deal with the environment as he once could.
Breathing in fumes, smoke and any sort of particulate matter in the course of their duties all take a toll on the lungs, heart, liver, kidneys and spinal column. Arthritis and other painful ailments are also common among firefighters.
Only the fittest of the fit can ever get the job in the first place.
Charlie Michael
NORTH LAS VEGAS
No incentive
To the editor:
Imagine a car owner who has a minor accident but does not have car insurance. He goes to an auto insurance company and buys a policy that includes coverage for collisions. After buying the policy he asks that insurance company to fix his damaged car, but they refuse because it was a “pre-existing condition” that occurred before his car was covered by their insurance.
Imagine the homeowner whose house was damaged by fire but does not have insurance. He goes to an insurance company and buys a policy that includes coverage for fire damage to his house. After buying the policy he asks that insurance company to fix his damaged house, but they refuse because it was a “pre-existing condition” that occurred before his house was covered by their insurance.
Now imagine a person who needs an operation but does not have any health insurance. So he goes and buys a health insurance policy and then asks the insurance company to pay for his operation, but they refuse because he has a “pre-existing condition” that occurred before he was covered by their insurance.
Some people would complain and say, “There ought to be a law.” But if a law required insurance companies to pay for repairs for pre-existing conditions, no one would buy any insurance policy until after they needed some kind of repair to their car, to their house or to their body.
If insurance companies were forced to pay for repairs for pre-existing conditions, all insurance companies would eventually go bankrupt and out of business, especially if they are not allowed to adjust their premium rates to cover the added costs of doing such business.
Isn’t this what the Obama/Reid/Pelosi health care reform bill will do to health insurance companies?
First it was the financial institutions, then the automobile manufacturers, and now the health insurance companies. What companies will they target next to come under government control? Maybe yours?
S.G. Hayes Sr.
LAS VEGAS
Warming up
To the editor:
Observing the blizzards now occurring in the East and declaring global warming a myth, as you did in your Saturday editorial, is akin to a Kansas farmer surveying his fields and declaring Earth to be flat.
These individual fluctuations in weather prove only that the Earth’s climate is complex.
The mistake that you and many of the scientists as skeptical of climate change make is using an isolated set of data to prove a theory. Good science requires consideration of all the evidence.
Meanwhile, look at the 620 scientists who contributed to the paper “Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.” I found their data and analysis to be beyond reproach.
When I worked with complex chemical processes, I found that perturbations sometimes resulted in wide fluctuations in the process parameters. I’d expect a perturbation like global warming to result in similar wide fluctuations in climate parameters. Warmer and colder weather, deeper droughts, heavier floods, and mightier storms, are all consistent with current climate trends.
This also applies to year-to-year fluctuations. For example, a single year during the last decade might indicate cooling, but overall, the decade was the warmest on record.
Lynn Lanier
HENDERSON
Read this
To the editor:
I just wondered if Tann Summers, who in a Saturday letter wrote, ‘The ability to text and drive is a valuable tool to my success while working on the road,” is in rocket science outside sales? Studies have shown that texting drivers are more dangerous than drunken drivers.
Read this text — and not while driving, Ms. Summers: “You are an accident waiting to happen!”
STEVE WILLIS
LAS VEGAS
