Thank goodness for the Reid family

To the editor:

In regard to Gerry Lock's Monday letter to the editor criticizing Harry and Rory Reid: Obviously he knows not of what he speaks. It would behoove him to check the facts before he spews such vitriol.

Sen. Reid has accomplished so much for the state of Nevada that there is neither time nor space to list these accomplishments. One extremely important thing: He has kept Yucca Mountain from becoming the dump for this country's nuclear waste. For this reason alone, any person living in this state who doesn't support Sen. Reid must be a few bricks short of a load.

Mr. Lock makes further mendacious comments regarding Sen. Reid's son Rory Reid, and accuses him of political ineptitude. But he has done a fine job as county commissioner and is a very intelligent, ethical person, with high morals and a great work ethic. What more could we ask for? We need someone of his quality for governor. It would be a welcome change.

I pray that Nevadans are smart enough to see the value this extremely competent man could bring to Carson City, and to the people of our wonderful state.

MARY VINCENT

HENDERSON

It's all OK

To the editor:

What an unexpectedly humorous situation I encountered in reading Saturday's Review-Journal.

Right in front of me was a bold headline that stated the country's budget deficit rose to $1.42 trillion; underneath was a sub-headline that informed me the imbalance for 2009 more than tripled last year's record. Nearby was a smaller headline over a graph that stated the rising deficit was raising concerns; at the top of the Business section was another small, bold headline that warned bankruptcy filings rose 64 percent in Nevada in 2009.

The funny part followed.

There, right smack-dab in my eyesight, was another bold headline announcing that the vice president was visiting Reno to praise Harry Reid and tout the stimulus program. Huh?

Joe Biden addressed 500 blind-sheep Harry Reid supporters, telling everyone that the U.S. economy is on the mend and everything will be OK. He reminded the giddy, picture-snapping horde of lemmings that after nine months of "Obamanomics," it was getting better. Huh?

And, yet, right below that report was another headline touting that Nevada is short on stimulus jobs and reporting an unemployment rate of 13.2 percent, the nation's second-worst. Huh?

And so we are to lend Harry Reid our support because as Senate majority leader he has overseen a tripled deficit? In addition, we have a 64 percent bankruptcy rate increase in Nevada, very little stimulus money coming into our state and a 13.2 percent jobless rate. Meanwhile, Sen. Reid is helping to force-feed the citizenry a health care bill nobody likes. Huh?

What euphoria-tinged dream world are these, our country's leaders, living in? Want to know the best way to support Harry Reid? Give him an early retirement next year.

George Pucine

LAS VEGAS

Air it out

To the editor:

In your Friday newspaper, you reported on a study requested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding smoking bans and how they have reduced the number of heart attacks. The report showed that secondhand smoke is a significant factor in heart as well as lung health.

Coincidentally, I visited one of the relatively new billion-dollar Strip casinos on Friday night. Within an hour I had an asthmatic attack. I wondered what it was from because I have gone weeks without such an attack. Then I remembered the perfume-like smell in the air, which I could not get away from. Apparently, it is some kind of smell used to mask the odor of smoke in the casino.

I didn't expect this from a first-class, billion-dollar casino. It smelled like a cheap hotel room where someone overused a deodorizing spray. I questioned a casino dealer about the smell, and he said they always add it to the air. He said that it gives him a stuffy nose and frequently causes him to sneeze. When will businesses learn that adding another pollutant to the air does not make the smoky air any better? Instead, it makes it worse for our lungs.

I am retired. I never smoked, but I have been subjected to secondhand smoke all my life. I believe the effect is cumulative. My lung function has become worse in recent years. When you are young, nothing bothers you. As you get older, secondhand smoke takes its toll.

If you work for a casino, your retirement years may find you in failing health -- if you make it to retirement.

I hope some skillful attorney is able to win a huge class-action lawsuit against the air-polluting casinos. Only then will they wake up to the destruction they cause.

Bob Bartman

HENDERSON