Answers sought so sleep comes easier
A simple question: What would the United States do if another country fired rockets into our land, killing our citizens? Does anyone have a clue? What would the United Nations say?
I would really like to know so that I can sleep at night.
JACK RALPH
Carson City
Political developments
a real three-ring circus
Well, it looks as though all the election results and/or appointments are over. Now the United States has a new president whose citizenship is being questioned and a senator probably being appointed in New York (Caroline Kennedy) whose experience, she claims, is "I raised a family." In addition, we have a senator being appointed in Illinois, Roland Burris, by a governor apparently about to face an impeachment trial and a senator, (apparently elected) Al Franken, whose experience is as a comedian (so-called) on Saturday Night Live.
Now we should insist upon some new titles for the branches of our government. What if the two houses of Congress now called the House and the Senate were retitled the Barnum and the Bailey. Then we could retitle the three branches of government. Instead of the executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch we could just call them the three rings of the Washington circus.
JOHN DEVENISH
Carson City
More marching bands, less time for talking heads during bowls
Whatever happened to the halftime shows that once were shown on televised football bowl games? The Rose Bowl gave us a small glimpse of the marching band before returning to the ever-present three to four talking heads who bored the viewers (us) to death with their endless chatter about the game we just spent an hour or so watching. Who needs them?
Years ago one of the highlights of the college games was the halftime show with its marching bands. It seems to me these talented young men and women, who obviously spent many hours practicing, deserve to be seen on television. They are certainly more entertaining than listening to the "talkers." Our "mute" button worked just fine several times on New Year's Day.
MARILYN STURGES
Carson City
Douglas County not doing enough for seniors
During the latter years of the 20th century, organizations that provided activities and support for seniors in Douglas County such as AARP, RSVP, Eldercare, Home Companions, the senior center and senior services flourished, while retirees and seniors flocked to our county. Now most of these organizations have either left the county or their services have been significantly diminished and our county senior population is now on the decline. Fortunately for our county, organizations such as Young At Heart, TRIAD, our service clubs and churches still provide activities and support for our elderly.
Unlike the rest of Nevada, where the senior population is significantly increasing, Douglas County has lost its ability to attract new retirees and seniors. This is evident by the large number of vacant houses and "For Sale" and "For Rent" signs throughout the area. In addition, Douglas County recently announced that the building permits for new houses dropped to an all-time low " zero.
Seniors bring new money to a county in the form of retirement funds, IRAs, saving accounts, annuities, securities, Social Security and Medicare. Counties which have a relatively large number of retirees are almost always economically solvent, even during hard times. In addition, our seniors are not a drag on the county's budget. With a population of about 13,000 seniors, only 35 are recipients of Douglas County welfare.
Why then don't the businessmen, businesswomen and politicians of Douglas County do something to attract retirees and seniors to our county instead of driving them away? I challenge them to take the first step toward restoring our senior population. Building additional office buildings, hotels, casinos, jails and retail outlets doesn't attract seniors to our county. What they really need to do is build a new and larger senior center that would be attractive to new residents and be an incentive for them to relocate to Douglas County. The Douglas County economy will never recover unless we restore our senior population.
PAUL LOCKWOOD
Minden