Turkey baited Israel with no-win situation
To the editor:
Having been involved with Amnesty International, Greenpeace, WWF, NYPIRG and countless other humanitarian organizations, I can assure you that neither I nor anyone else I volunteered with carried bats, chains, clubs or any weapons when we were trying to get a point across.
Let's call it like it is: Turkey baited Israel to walk into a no-win situation knowing full well that the Israeli commandos would be overpowered by sheer numbers and the advantage of "protesters," although they do not deserve to use that term. Animals or cowards would be a better fit, given that they were positioned on the deck, waiting to attack.
Also, Turkey knew full well that the world once again would blame Israel for trying to protect itself.
It is indeed a very sad time in which we live, in that people, many even being intelligent, can continue to not recognize and accept that Israel respects and appreciates life. Israeli soldiers do not use women and children as shields. Israeli soldiers do not wait on boats to attack people.
If the United States had issued a blockade and someone threw it in our face, how would we respond? I can assure you that with all of our reported diplomacy, we would still not show as much control as the Israelis did.
Seth Agatstein
Las Vegas
Put a lid on it
To the editor:
In response to your Wednesday editorial, "Oil spill politics":
As a high-pressure physicist who studies hydrocarbons under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature, I call upon the U.S. government to establish a clearinghouse where ideas and information may be freely exchanged on how to stop the massive leak of oil from BP's wellhead. In my opinion, given the large amount of time that has lapsed with no working solution yet on the horizon, this serious problem is beyond BP's ability to solve it, and the U.S. government should take a more commanding role in plugging the leak, as well as the cleanup (at BP's expense).
The U.S. government also needs to solicit real experts who understand the behavior of matter at extreme conditions of pressure and how to seal leaks.
One possibility to consider is to simply drop a series of heavy slabs to knock over and crush the Blow Out Preventer to eventually stop the leak. If the tall but skinny BOP is considered to be too much of an impediment, local explosives or robotic diamond sawing can easily clear it out of the way.
Then, we can drop one slab with a cylindrical but trapezoidal stub in its center that is matched to the hole after the BOP is removed. The stub acts as a stopper and could be coated with a layer of lead or other soft metal to easily deform under stress to help seal the leak. Then successive flat slabs can be laid down upon the original sealing slab to increase the pressure, forcing the stopper into the hole, deforming the hole and the stopper/stub to seal the leak.
It seems that BP is more interested in sparing their wellhead than in plugging the leak in a reasonable time frame. But, given that it has already been damaged, how do we know that the BOP will actually be able sustain high pressure if and when the pipe above it is repaired/reconnected? The key issue here is that we're dealing with gushing oil pressures of the order of 1,000 times atmospheric pressure where conventional sealing methods may just not work. Playing tiddlywinks with the wellhead at literally unfathomable depths of 5,000 feet is not likely to get us anywhere.
Time is of the essence to resolve this crisis. Let the innovative spirit of Americans solve this ecological catastrophe. We just can't afford to wait on more failed solutions from BP.
Michael Pravica
Henderson
The writer is an associate professor of physics at UNLV.
Healthier world
To the editor:
Not to be all hippy, but if this oil spill pandemic doesn't inspire the American people to compel our government to start the research and development of alternative fuel sources that could actually save our planet, I just don't know what will.
Come on, America. For once, let's not be the country that people want to call "lazy and selfish." Instead, let's become the country that inspired the cultural revolution of a healthier and more loving world.
Alex James Medick
Las Vegas
Dropping in
To the editor:
To all of you who think illegal immigration is just fine:
Please let me know where you live. One day when you're at work, trying to support your legal family, I will break into your home and begin living there. I will bring my whole family, too.
Then we'll start using the local emergency rooms whenever we want because I'm not going to pay for it anyway. And I will put my kids into the school system. Any teacher who dares to ask my kid if he is legal will get into more trouble for asking than my kid will for being illegal.
And if you dare ask me to leave your home, I will call you a racist and find many misguided citizens who will rally and march and protest on my behalf. After all, it's my "right" to illegally enter any area that I feel is nicer and better than where I currently live.
So send me those addresses. I will pick the one I like best.
Harry Kirchoff
Henderson
