Racial profiling can be used the right way
To the editor:
I read and enjoyed Wednesday's editorial, which pointed out that we shouldn't treat every Islam follower as a terrorist, but that we shouldn't ignore the fact that "the 9/11 massacres were carried out by Islamic extremists, that a would-be shoe bomber aboard a jetliner was an Islamic man, that a would-be underwear bomber aboard a Christmas flight to Detroit was an Islamic man, that the Army psychiatrist who gunned down 13 people at Fort Hood was an Islamic man with ties to a radical imam."
I think if you equate that to Arizona's illegal immigration law, you can see that sometimes racial profiling can be used the right way. If you're looking for illegals, wouldn't you want to question further the person who has no papers? I hope the first person stopped in Arizona is either a woman, African-American or a little old Irish lady.
I really see no problem with this law, and can not see why the president would seek to stop any state from enforcing a federal law that's been on the books for years.
Vernon Pechous
Henderson
Educated elitists
To the editor:
Many thoughts come to mind after reading the insulting drivel headlined "Nevada's depravity" on the front page of Sunday's Viewpoints section. Foremost of these: This nonsense is evidence that fear and loathing is still prevalent among the so-called intellectual elite at UNLV.
The two authors, UNLV professors who have been confined at the place for around 20 years or more, have chosen a rather bizarre way of asking for a pay raise. They obviously fear the citizens of this state, who have time and again made it clear that they have no desire to send more and more of their money to local and state governments to waste. These men loathe the very same citizens for not being intelligent enough to understand why paying more and more taxes might put this city on a par with Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or Buffalo. And we all know those three cities are really up there on a list of places where everyone wants to go spend a vacation.
Their condescending statement that "Nevadans prefer to gamble, an activity with fewer social and personal benefits than sleeping, compulsive talking, mud-wrestling or watching traffic go by," makes me wonder why these two educated elitists have stayed here for so long. Can't either find a job at an ivory tower in one of their preferred Valhallas?
I also find it amazing that before making this inane statement about Nevadans and gambling, one of their solutions to generate more tax dollars was a state lottery. Pardon my naivete, but isn't a lottery gambling? No wonder they think our education system is broken. Thinking like that helped break it.
Maybe they should remember the immortal words of that great philosopher Pogo, who said, "We have met the enemy and he is us!"
David R. Durling
Las Vegas
Too much?
To the editor:
News flash: British Petroleum has upped its estimate of the daily spill to 60,000 barrels (about 2.6 million gallons at 44 gallons per barrel). BP officials told members of Congress in a closed-door meeting that the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could be spewing as much as 60,000 barrels of oil a day, well over an earlier estimate of 5,000 barrels a day, according to reports on Wednesday.
To the Review-Journal editorial board: Can't stop progress? A multimillion-gallon spill isn't much?
How much has to be spilled to be too much?
Michael Henderson
Las Vegas
Airport facts
To the editor:
In response to Brian Covey's letter last week on parking changes at McCarran International Airport:
I would like to inform Mr. Covey that no local taxpayer dollars are used at McCarran. The airport is totally self-supporting.
Meanwhile, the canine supervisor is also the security supervisor, so his salary is not out of line as he is doing two jobs. The canine handlers are mandated by Homeland Security and were not the idea of the airport. These men are on call 24 hours a day and preform a vital job to ensure your safety at the airport.
As for airport boss Randall Walker having his own parking space, I believe that all CEOs have their own parking spaces -- not to mention some very large bonuses that go along with their positions.
Before condemning a person or organization, do all the research so that you have all the facts correct.
Dorothy Nicholson
Las Vegas
The writer is a former employee of the airport.
Your money
To the editor:
In her Wednesday letter to the editor, Beneth B. Morrow says, "Homeowners' associations siphon off thousands of dollars each year for walls, security gates and private guards to keep the 'others' out. Those 'volunteer taxes' might better go to community police, social services for all ... "
This statement brings to mind the oft-repeated definition of a liberal: Someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to repay with your money.
Phil Palmintere
Henderson
