Letters to the editor 6-6

Cutting Douglas senior

services way out of line

It may have taken a recession, but those of you who have been against Douglas County funding senior services have almost achieved this goal.

The Douglas County budget approved by the county commissioners for the next fiscal year is approximately $160,000. The expenditures allocated to senior services and county transportation in this budget are $1,276,644 but most of these senior services funds are provided by federal and state grants, charitable contributions and fees paid by the clientele. Only $330,000 is allocated from the county's General Fund. This means that the fraction of the county's funds apportioned to senior services and county transportation is less than 0.2 percent.

I challenge anyone to find another county in the whole United States that has per capita funding for senior services which is less than Douglas County's. We all know that county funds are really tight but cutting senior services and county transportation to this level is way out of line.

The irony of this situation is that our county's economy is highly dependent upon its resident retirees and seniors and economic recovery will be impossible without their support.

PAUL LOCKWOOD

Minden

Can the crybabies

make a valid point?

I read Mr. Edward's fear-mongering piece in the opinion section where he claims we're in a "communist takeover" and talks about the "disinformation of the mainstream media" (yawn).

He says that our new head of Homeland Security "has determined that a large segment of the population represents potential terrorists." Really?

He was referring to the document on "right-wing extremism" issued by the DHS that simply provides awareness to law enforcement on the "trends of violent radicalization in the United States." Now the Right is "all shook up" and offended over this report, taking it as a personal slap in the face.

Last month, the DHS explained in a statement "we do not - nor will we ever - monitor ideology or political beliefs" and that "we honor veterans at DHS and employ thousands across the department, up to and including the Deputy Secretary." You can read it for yourself at www.dhs.gov/ynews

/releases/pr_1239817562001.shtm.

It's interesting to note that since the Right has lost every possible election, they are quick to criticize every move made by the new administration. We see Mr. Edwards crying about "disinformation from the mainstream media" but I wonder where he was a few years ago when the media, under Bush, was not allowed to show caskets of our fallen soldiers fighting in Iraq let alone reveal our torture tactics. (That doesn't seem to bother him.)

Can the crybabies on the Right make any valid point without being complete hypocrites?

ROBIN CHRISTY

Carson City

Heads up - the sky

is falling in Nevada

It appears Nevadans have two senators, each from a different political party, walking in lockstep shouting: "The sky is falling." Their recent joint letter in the Nevada Appeal about Yucca Mountain leads me to believe that grassroots Nevadans are totally unrepresented in the U.S. Senate and that both "senators" are in the vest pockets of the Las Vegas gaming interests.

The proposal on the table is to make Yucca Mountain into a nuclear reprocessing facility, not a "dump." Even France (among other nations) gets the majority of its energy from nuclear power. If Reid, Ensign and Obama want to stick their heads in the ground and claim that wind and solar can power this nation, then let them huddle by their fireplaces next winter instead of jumping on Air Force One for a trip to Florida. Reprocessing would bring well-paying, clean jobs to Nevada and significantly expand our tax base.

There is ample evidence that Washington, D.C., is controlled by lobbyists. Apparently Nevada politicians are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

JIM CLARK

Incline Village