I am stating my opinion and my emotions in this article in hope that it will be published so that the people of Carson can be enlightened of a problem that you might experience if you are a teenager or if you encounter a disrespectful officer of the peace. I am a 16-year-old Carson resident and like most every other teen I don't like most of the police officers in this town.
Don't get me wrong though, there are some deputies, detectives and other figures who are polite and treat people with the respect they deserve. A vast majority of the cops nowadays have a problem with surpassing their authority; they are rude and think that they can do what they feel with impunity. I have been harassed by officers several times for no reason but, hey, it's what all employed people pay them for.
Yes, we have some problems with crime. But one thing that I saw that was not right was when an off-duty officer put his hand on a drunken girl who was trying to fight his girlfriend. When confronted about it, he pulled out his badge and said "do you know what this means?" Technically my impression from it was that his badge represented his authority and that he could do what he wanted. I deeply know that if I could help it I would not give them one cent out of the taxes from my minimum wage paycheck every two weeks. Some officers even get frustrated with you if you ask for their badge numbers to report situations like the one that I happened to witness.
Nonetheless, there are some officers who are more than happy to follow procedures and follow the law as it states.
These are the officers who I feel deserve the privilege to represent the Carson City Police Department and the fine streets of Carson.
MACK JASSO
Carson City
A letter to the editor on Dec. 3 from liberal champion Gene Paslov deserves a response. Paslov suggests that government works best when it adopts centrist policies. This surprised me since he reminds me of Pavlov's famous dog: he, Paslov, probably never saw a liberal cause he didn't drool over.
Centrist-liberal policies supported by both political parties, as they pandered to the public, have created a massive centralized government with a national debt of $10,680,027,198,239 that is increasing at a rate of $3.8 billion a day. Pending bailout plans and increasing demands upon services will only exacerbate these numbers.
The government is now involved in the largest Ponzi scheme in history as it rolls this debt forward to the future day of reckoning while borrowing more money to survive today. Insanity.
Earlier this year Richard Fisher, President of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank (a system of private banks managing our national economy " which the Founders vehemently warned us against) estimated future obligations of the U.S. government to be $99 trillion. I wonder if this is the centrist path Paslov wants us to continue down.
We must ask ourselves how a bankrupt government can possibly act as lender and guarantor of last resort let alone promise the public more programs. Are we humans so flawed that we don't understand these policies will eventually destroy our economy?
I assume Paslov is a compassionate, caring man who genuinely has the public's best interests in mind. However, he has fallen victim to liberal ideologies that defy Constitutional principles established by the Founders.
I did not vote for Obama nor did I vote for McCain, and I never voted for Bush. None of them adhere to the original principles of the Constitution. I know that I and those who share these beliefs are considered to be less intelligent than Forrest Gump, but after the schemes of centrist politicians fail (and they will) I can only hope we as a nation turn back to the genius of the Founders whose understanding of human nature and freedom far exceeds anything Gene Paslov ever dreamt of.
CHRISTOPHER HARDT
Carson City
On Thursday, Dec. 4, the Nevada Appeal published an article "Reports of graffiti drop after teen's arrest," which opened with the following: "The arrest...of a 15-year-old graffiti artist ..."
Now I have a question for the author of the article, Nevada Appeal Staff Writer F. T. Norton, as well as for the publisher of the Nevada Appeal, Niki Gladys.
Had this young man vandalized your personal property (your fence, the walls of your home, etc.) would you still consider him to be an "artist" as described by you in this article or is he only an "artist" when he damages the property of others?
I ask this question, in part, because this is not the first vandalism story to be written by one of your staff writers wherein the vandal was also described as a "graffiti artist."
I look forward to seeing your written replies to my question published in an upcoming issue of the Nevada Appeal.
PAUL VECHIL
Gardnerville
Idea " have the management of Toyota take over General Motors, Honda take over Ford and Nissan take over Chrysler. I'll bet in a year or two they will be producing quality cars with American workers that can compete in the world market.
CARL BOLTON
Carson City
The pros and cons regarding Yucca mountain are endless. It was in the late 1980s when all eyes were turned toward the State of Nevada " think about it " a small state with two new senators. There was Texas and the state of Washington with powerful leadership, as compared to our own little state of Nevada. Included in this mixture was the powerful nuclear industry pushing all the way to Nevada and Yucca Mountain.
There are advantages to Yucca Mountain in that it is in a remote area along side the Nevada test site, wherein there had been nuclear testing. Think about human exposure over the next 10,000 years. Fractured rock that will provide a path down to the water table. Think also about the mountain as it sits quietly at this moment in isolation, but we have had earthquakes and this area is located in the southwestern Nevada volcanic field. There are a maze of faults and fractures beneath this mountain which make it difficult to model flow pathways.
Now let's discuss the Quality Assurance Department at Bechtel Saic and the lack of inspections in that department. Here we have a multi-million dollar corporation, hired by the Department of Energy to oversee the facility and its capabilities, and this huge corporation "flubbed it." Can you believe it " no inspections? Well, it took a couple of years, but finally Bechtel Saic will no longer be in the picture.
Now, we the ordinary people of our own State of Nevada are supposed to rely on the Department of Energy so that future generations of Nevadans will be safe from exposure and from high-level nuclear hazardous waste at the Nevada test site.
SHIRLEY SWAFFORD
Carson City