Oil, coal don’t make us sick — Reid does

To the editor:

The other night, I heard Nevada Sen. Harry Reid say on TV that coal and oil make us sick. Well, yes, they do Sen. Reid -- if we drink the oil and eat the coal.

But being a guy born in Cleveland in 1941, with smokestacks all over that town and coal furnaces heating every home, cars with zero pollution controls burning leaded fuel and crankcase vent tubes that dumped the fumes into the air, why wasn't the whole city dead?

I'd be willing to bet Sen. Reid that one 1950s car was worse on the air than 50 new cars, and that one Packard produced more emissions than at least 100 new vehicles.

No, Sen. Reid, oil and coal don't make us sick. Paying more than $4 for a gallon of gasoline makes us sick. Watching our economy going down the toilet makes us sick. Not producing our own oil makes us sick.

Richard Santa Maria

LAS VEGAS

Here's your crisis

To the editor:

In your June 28 editorial, "Where's the crisis?" you stated: "When the state starts laying workers off and freezing their pay, we might believe there's serious trouble. But not before."

Two days later, UNLV President David Ashley sent a letter to all employees stating, "This spring we have issued 99 notices of non-reappointment, 29 of which were given today. We are losing valued members of our university community, many of whom have made significant contributions to UNLV, and they will all be missed."

So when can we expect an editorial describing the critical state of affairs at UNLV and calling for the reinstatement of the budget?

John Farrish

NORTH LAS VEGAS

Strange bedfellows

To the editor:

It's odd. You wouldn't think that Gen. Wesley Clark would downplay Sen. John McCain's military career and captivity, considering he seemed so impressed with Sen. John Kerry and his brief time as a swiftboat skipper that he backed his 2004 presidential campaign wholeheartedly.

I clearly recall this petty little man taking the stage and saluting John Kerry while asking permission to come aboard, surely a sign of respect -- a general saluting a former lieutenant JG.

Sen. McCain was a career Navy man and far more likely conversant with military matters than Sen. Kerry, whose conversations about the military were less than complimentary, if not traitorous.

Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.

Vernon Clayson

LAS VEGAS

Time for a lottery

To the editor:

I read in Wednesday's Review-Journal that a bill will be introduced during the 2009 Legislature seeking a constitutional amendment allowing a statewide lottery.

I'm old enough to remember the late comedian George Carlin's seven words you can't say on television. Lottery is the seven-letter word you apparently can't print in Nevada.

The Florida Lottery was created by a constitutional amendment, approved by a 2-to-1 margin in the 1986 general election. The lottery was structured to give extra funding to state education. The state's Bright Futures Scholarship Program -- the equivalent of Nevada's Millennium Scholarship -- is funded by the lottery.

It took only 17 days of ticket sales in 1988 to repay with interest the $15.5 million borrowed from the general fund to start the game.

If Nevada's teacher unions were really concerned with the plight of education in our fine state, they would pick up the challenge that this bill draft presents. Florida's lottery funds could serve as an example, covering such things as new school construction, books, new teachers to reduce class sizes, scholarships and financial aid.

The gaming industry should also be receptive to this, as it would reduce the talk of raising the gaming tax and the room tax. I realize this might reduce the casinos' bottom line slightly, but it would be a good gesture for them to make. After all, I (and lot of other people) not only enjoy the casinos, but also travel to Arizona or California to purchase lottery tickets.

Since its inception, the Florida Lottery has generated $17 billion in revenue for education. A certain percentage of the gross revenue goes toward prizes, as well as expenses associated with the operation of the lottery, but there's a lot left over.

Vernon F. Pechous

HENDERSON

Remembering Carlin

To the editor:

We've lost a comedy icon and treasure with the passing of comedian George Carlin. He was simply one of the best stand-up comics the world has known.

There has never been a comic as prolific and dynamic as Mr. Carlin. The breadth, scope and amount of original material he personally wrote and delivered is mind-boggling. Mr. Carlin's intelligence, writing talent and delivery simply put him in a different league. He completely changed his act every year I saw him.

I have written for many name comics, and there is not one I know of who could consistently deliver brand new hunks of material with each new year. You never heard the same "bit" twice with Mr. Carlin.

Fellow comics know the amount of time and effort it takes to write and deliver the quantity and quality of comic material Mr. Carlin produced in his lifetime.

Devon Wickens

LAS VEGAS