Light bulb debate is all about free choice
To the editor:
Richard J. Mundy's Tuesday letter espousing his satisfaction with CFL bulbs totally misses the point of Rich Lowry's Monday commentary on new laws requiring us to use fluorescent bulbs in place of incandescent bulbs.
Mr. Lowry's point can be summarized as the desire of many of us to direct the power flowing through our electric meters into and around our own home the way we choose.
I recently replaced all the CFL bulbs outside my home with 25-watt clear incandescent bulbs. The result was dramatic in terms of our preference in aesthetics and personal satisfaction.
We've installed dimmers throughout our residence with a variety of incandescent bulbs, which we feel gives our home special appeal.
Setting aside the power rationing debate espoused by Mr. Mundy and his "power police" companions, we wish him well in his choices, and we'd like the same good will from him regarding ours.
Bud Buehler
Las Vegas
Train wreck
To the editor:
I read with much amusement the article in Saturday's paper regarding the DesertXpress train so magnanimously touted by our Sen. Harry Reid. Our illustrious senior senator stated, "This project right here will be written about in textbooks."
And here's what the textbooks will say:
"In 2011, the federal government wasted billions of dollars funding a high-speed transit system whose terminus was that highly magnetic tourist destination, Victorville, where the top-rated thing to do is visit The Green Tree Golf Course -- or, if you are so inclined to travel from Las Vegas to dine in Victorville, you may eat at either of two top-rated establishments: Outback Steakhouse or Molly Brown's Country Café.
"Yet 80 miles west of Victorville lies Los Angeles, which is the gateway to many vacation attractions, all within that Southern California enclave that captures Los Angeles and San Diego, such as Disneyland or SeaWorld. How does the traveler get from Victorville to Los Angeles? Well, pure resourcefulness and an inventive imagination to secure travel arrangements for the remaining 80-mile trip. Twofold should the traveler be determined to return home to Las Vegas. Needless to say, the venture was a complete failure."
Ah, yes, our forward-thinking senator has once again done it. Imagine. A train that really goes nowhere. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
George Pucine
Las Vegas
Budget problem
To the editor:
It was interesting to see the Nye County Commission project politically correct indignation over the assessor's concerns about the county employing illegal aliens (Saturday Review-Journal). We need to replace all those who have sworn to protect and defend the United States, but who fail to do so. This goes for all politicians at every level.
The assessor is right to question the failure to defend our physical and financial borders. Without illegal aliens and the costs they bring, the state would have a balanced budget.
Todd Green
Las Vegas
Right wrong again
To the editor:
Once again the right-wing talking heads have got it wrong. It is interesting to see how they take certain events in history and twist them to fit their political agenda. The latest was the Patrick Buchanan rant that appeared on Friday's commentary page.
In that column, Mr. Buchanan compared Abraham Lincoln to Moammar Gadhafi. Are you kidding me? That is like comparing Mother Teresa to Adolf Hitler.
His twist on this issue was that the Gadhafi threat to destroy the Libyan rebels was equal to Lincoln's actions taken against the poor rebel Southern states. His ending statement was that it was a "good thing that we didn't have an international community back then, because the Royal Navy would have bombarded Lincoln's America."
There was an international community. And the British had huge stockpiles of cotton on hand and were buying it in other parts of the world. It was not in their best interests to get involved on the side of the South. Above all, they found the brutality of Southern slavery repulsive.
It was also a good thing, Mr. Buchanan, that we did have an international community at the time of America's revolution, because without the help of the French and military leaders from other countries, we would still be drinking tea and eating crumpets. What would have happened if they hadn't supported the American colonists (rebels)?
Skip Eagle
Las Vegas
Out of control
To the editor:
When a foreign government uses force against its own citizen protesters -- as we've recently seen in Libya -- U.S. government officials feel compelled to step in and drop a few bombs, all in the name of "protecting human rights." However, anyone who thinks that our own government wouldn't use force against fellow Americans who might engage in similar protests right here at home only has to recall the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968 and the Kent State University shootings in 1970.
Our government is out of control and headed in a direction our Founding Fathers never intended.
Larry Fuss
Las Vegas
