LETTERS: Governor should make push for Uber

To the editor:

Richard N. Velotta wrote a very good article comparing Uber with the taxi companies in Las Vegas (“Uber-taxi battle: A rider’s-eye view,” Dec. 7 Review-Journal). Unfortunately, after Mr. Velotta took his rides with Uber and in a taxi, Uber was shut down.

The crux of the article showed that there was not that much difference in fares, but it did note that Uber arrived at the customer’s pick-up location very quickly, in a matter of minutes, like Uber said it would. Taxi cabs? Not so much. The entire article made the point that there is actually room for taxis and ride-share companies to do business in Las Vegas.

A few days after the article, Gov. Brian Sandoval attended a conference with officials from Western states addressing ways to bring business and new technology to those states. The irony was that more than 1,000 jobs were wiped away, just like that, with the decision of a Washoe County judge to halt Uber’s operation. I believe the Nevada Taxicab Authority and Nevada Transportation Authority shopped around the state to find a judge sympathetic to their cause, who would do their bidding.

Gov. Sandoval should have told conference attendees that Uber brought many jobs to Nevada using innovative technology. It is no secret that Uber has been operating in California and more than 200 other cities, doing a bang-up job even overseas. He should have praised the technology and welcomed it into Nevada.

Uber has become a household name, even referenced on television shows. The technology is used worldwide and it should have a place here in Las Vegas and Nevada. Gov. Sandoval should push the Legislature to make accommodations for Uber as quickly as possible. If the governor really meant what he said about bringing technology to Nevada I would suggest he put the Uber drivers back on the streets.

Choice is good. We cannot depend on taxi companies alone to get all of us around Las Vegas.

BRADLEY KUHNS

LAS VEGAS

Torture report stains U.S.

To the editor:

The Senate report on the torture committed by the CIA turned my stomach. My mother and aunt worked for the Czech underground in World War II, and some of the same methods the CIA used on prisoners were used on them by the Gestapo. America now has its own Heinrich Himmlers and Adolf Eichmans.

I voted for Barack Obama in 2008, and a month after his inauguration, I sent him a letter saying that John Yoo — the architect of the memos used by President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to justify torture — should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. President Obama repudiated Mr. Yoo’s memos, but I never felt that was enough.

I don’t believe torture prevented any attacks on the United States. America has now been defiled with a filth that will never be washed away.

NADIA ROMEO

LAS VEGAS

You’ve got to be taught

To the editor:

With recent events, there is obviously much racial tension and a lot of mistrust. Without commenting on each event, the question becomes: What is the root cause of this mistrust? I think the lyrics from the song “Carefully Taught,” by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, hit the nail on the head:

“You’ve got be taught to hate and fear,

You’ve got to be taught from year to year.

It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear.

You’ve got to be carefully taught. …

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,

Before you are six or seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate.

You’ve got to be carefully taught.”

I submit that wherever there is a police officer who mistrusts people of a different race, he was taught that at home. Likewise, the young black men who defy police orders were taught at home that police officers are our enemies, and that they shouldn’t take any guff from them.

VERLON BERKEMEYER

NORTH LAS VEGAS

CCSD shortcomings

To the editor:

Trevon Milliard’s article on Hailee Lamberth should shock us all, but for most graduates of the Clark County School District, it is probably not surprising (“Hailee’s family shocked by language, timing of motion,” Dec. 16 Review-Journal). Even 30 years ago, entering Burkholder Junior High, I remember the trite messages about self-esteem and the school’s commitment to excellence.

Beyond the substantial financial reward that should be granted the Lamberth family and the apology of the principal and superintendent to a grieving father, every CCSD school building should be emblazoned with the district’s true beliefs: “The principal and other staff have no constitutional duty to protect Hailee (and all your children, too) from the alleged bullies.”

Away with the shallow slogans and up with the true measure of our school district and its leaders — what they say in the aftermath of a tragedy.

HOWARD R. GILES III

HENDERSON