Do something for the sake of decency
I must ask a question, and hope to get a response. Are there people who are as disgusted as I am about what has become of this city?
To be blunt, it has become like an open sewer and will remain that way until city leaders put an ordinance in place. Just a plain ordinary common sense, common decency ordinance.
Now I know many of you won't like this idea because you are so fond of your freedom of speech and so forth. But please take a moment and think of your kids and your neighbor's kids and the images they see all over Carson City.
If you are wondering what I'm so upset about, anyone with half a brain and half a conscience already knows. It's pornography and it's being advertised everywhere. It's vile, it's rampant and it's got to stop or our civilization will collapse. Does anyone out there care anymore?
Now back to the ordinance, all of you city leaders, the mayor, the supervisors and such. Just for a moment you all have to stop thinking about the all mighty dollars, and think of our children's future and the society that you leave to them.
I know that you can't stop the liquor stores and so forth from selling pornography. But can't you put an ordinance in place about wide-open advertising on main street and city limits?
Come on, it's time to be leaders and show some class and set the standard for Nevada. This is the capital right?
Again are there others as disgusted and sickened as I am? I sure hope so.
EDWARD KEN BLAIR
Carson City
Reagan-era prosperity a long-ago memory
The Reagan era was a long period of hope and optimism for all Americans and personal wealth grew to unprecedented heights. Sadly, that is no longer true.
America is now dominated by liberal Democrats and left-leaning groups who are rapidly leading this country into European-style socialism or worse. Fiscal responsibility is a thing of the past as more and more of the population is seduced into dependence on big government programs for their survival. The percentage of the welfare-dependent population who pay little or no taxes is rapidly approaching the majority, which will be the tipping point for the demise of this great country into Third World status.
Our capitalistic economic system will deteriorate as the number of honest, hardworking individuals and small businesses will no longer be able to pay enough taxes to support massive government welfare and socialist programs. The massive federal entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and prescription drugs are already bankrupt and nothing is being done.
A sensible national energy policy is non-existent and will be dominated by "green" environmental socialists who will settle for nothing less than the destruction of our great oil-driven economic engine. National security issues and terror threats are growing but will take a back seat to socialist policies and programs under the new Democratic administration.
A large percentage of the U.S. population who loved and supported the traditional American way of life are now fading away and sadly there is no one to replace them. The younger generations have now been "socialized" by the relentless march of liberalism and have come to accept the role of government as "big brother." The government-controlled education system is in shambles and serves only as an incubator for liberal views.
Republican congressional leaders have let this happen. There are no true conservative politicians in this day and age who have the courage to stand and fight. The lone exception was Sarah Palin, and for her efforts she was ostracized and humiliated by Democrats and Republicans alike. I fear for the future of my family and country.
BILL JOHNSTON
Carson City
Improve Douglas senior services
Having been raised in a small conservative town about the same size as Minden, we were taught very early in life to honor and respect the needs of our elders because it was the right thing to do. After all, they had raised our parents, built the town, dug the coal mines and had won two wars (World War I and the Spanish American War). Even though during the '30s times were really tough, this town had a community center where seniors could engage in activities such as dancing, card playing and bowling. It's too bad that this concept doesn't prevail today with the majority of people in Douglas County.
In Douglas County we have at least 200 seniors who are suffering from some level of Alzheimer's disease or dementia, many more who are partially blind and can no longer drive or read and the mobility of even more seniors is hampered by their dependency upon wheelchairs or walkers. A large number of our seniors just sit at home watching TV all day with an occasional weekly visit by a relative, caregiver, meals-on-wheels driver or housekeeper.
These seniors are seldom visible to the public since they are limited to occasional visits to church, a casino or the senior center. Before you make the oft quoted self-centered statement, "they're not my problem or responsibility," think twice, because you may be taking their place someday.
Our local politicians seem to always recognize the needs of our seniors during their campaigns, but once in office many of them quickly forget their commitments. We're not asking for much.
All we want is for Douglas County to restore its senior services to a level which is considered a standard for counties and municipalities in the United States. Is this too much to ask of one of the most affluent counties in our country, especially since the seniors of Douglas County pay approximately 50 percent of the residential real estate tax?
PAUL LOCKWOOD
Minden
Windmill proposal should be reviewed
Perhaps some of you other old-timers remember a Life magazine picture of a Chinese small farmer tending his backyard blast furnace. Chairman Mao encouraged homemade steel to support a surge in China's industrial strength.
It didn't work; steel is an industry that cries out for large plants. If they work at all, small mills cannot be as efficient as large ones. A mill 10 times as large, for instance, might make 30 times as much steel while consuming only three times as much resource.
Meanwhile, the tiny backyard mill still pumps out a lot of dirt and noise.
The parallel between tiny steel mills and small residential windmills to generate electricity fits pretty well.
Windmills cannot be both small and efficient. They just don't work that way. Small, inefficient windmills, however, pump out noise and interfere with views.
There is strong evidence that small windmills don't make sense " they are subsidized. Economic sense doesn't need subsidies.
On April 2, our Board of Supervisors will decide if your neighbor can put a number of noisy and unsightly windmills on his or her lot.
Why would your neighbor want to do that? Because with the subsidies, the neighbor would save money on electric bills. The noise and unsightly obstructions would be your problem.
Good for the neighbor; bad for you. The April proposal permits as many as 10 windmills on a one-acre residential lot. Tell your supervisor to slow down and reconsider. Send it back to planning.
DAVE CAMPBELL
Carson City
Food for thought
I would like to thank Lorie Schaefer for her great article: A Little Food for Thought. Having been a volunteer with Food for Thought for almost two years; I know first hand what a wonderful caring woman Rebecca Rund is. She works night and day for "our hungry kids."
There's no denying our economic times are some of the most challenging any of us have witnessed, but we still have the ability to rise above our own hardships and struggles and feed the youngest victims of homelessness in our community.
CECILE CRITCHFIELD
Carson City
Safe drinking water a basic responsibility
Many of Carson City's residents are aware of the problem of uranium contamination found in a Carson water well, and the health threat this constitutes. For those not aware, the breakdown of any radioactive substance that is ingested constitutes a health risk.
A couple of years ago, I objected to the water commission granting a waiver for three years to Carson City for the new radioactivity standard which was to be about a fifth of what the standard had been. I believe an analogy I used at the time was that if the government that marched troops toward an atomic explosion (Atomic Annie; to see what would happen) says a radioactivity standard should be lowered, we should listen and scramble to make the standard happen. But I did prevail, and here we are.
As water resources further dwindle, or more pressure is applied to city wells, the admixture of "good" water to contaminated wells must be more and more precise to avoid similar circumstances of being over the (old, under waiver) guideline, much less be adherent to the new guidelines when Carson City's waiver expires soon.
You will not find any minimum daily requirement of radioactive breakdown components on any food label. The admonition of the city's notice to "decrease demand on the wells containing uranium this summer" are just absurd. (Important information about your drinking water.) You don't control the admixture of "good" with "bad" water, nor is the average citizen equipped with testing equipment to this end.
Supervisors or other public servants are sworn to protect us. In this case this did not happen sufficiently to protect the common good. It is not enough to rubber-stamp decisions that seem financially or technically expedient, and not enough to say something's "already done."
Insist that this get fixed despite the current fiscal problems. Safe drinking water is among the most basic of local governments' responsibilities.
John B. Peery
Carson City
Slow down and outlaw all the pork
Reckless. The government, state and federal alike, have become reckless. Taxpayers need to pay attention, question policy and demand accountability. Our governments need to slow down, communicate, investigate and outlaw pork.
These are perplexing times. Information is confusing, manipulated and illogical. By observation of people these days, one hears concern, anger, fear and mostly a disquieting sense of hopelessness. As life changes dramatically almost daily, living is scary and disheartening. I try to operate on a "no blame" position, but finger-pointing clouds rational thinking for our elected decision-makers.
Blame volleys from one entity or political party to another. When are our representatives going to stop acting like teenagers and pay attention to the job they were elected to complete? The competition, name-calling, scandals, manipulation of facts and skewed information we are given screams with one resounding message: "Hey, stupid, taxpaying peons, watch for the next robbery of your rights and emptying of your wallet."
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
My greatest outrage came with the exorbitant stimulus package the congress passed without reading it. The sky was not falling. I have not heard of any one person who had an opportunity to vote on the spending of taxpayer money who actually read the entire bill. Read before you sign (vote) is a basic tenant of life skills. It does not exclude congressional/state leaders and the president. Since that huge stimulus bill, every day other debt-increasing spending plans for taxpayer money are unleashed.
Priorities are not considered, and some elected officials seem disconnected from the realities of living. Do we really need to consider choosing a proper insect for the state or a study on the smell of swine?
Please accept that this state is in serious financial trouble and the fix is not to raise room taxes to discourage tourists from coming to Nevada. Are you all so intimidated or scared you cannot act responsibly? Is this legal? I hope the governor changes his mind and vetoes all new taxes as promised. He cannot afford to be weak and nonchalant now.
Please act with integrity, dedication and honesty.
ANN BEDNARSKI
Carson City
Who's to blame? Both political parties
Who deregulated the laws? Which party? Who broke the backs of the people's voice? One person's voice vs. one corporation's voice? Which party? Who made antitrust a dirty word? Which party? Under whose presidency and congresses kept Social Security in the general fund? Remember hearing the words, "lock box" years ago and it failed?
Now on the flip side. Who allowed NAFTA into existence? Which party? Who repealed the Glass-Steagall act? Which party? It's taken Wall Street over 75 years to totally dismantle the laws governing a healthy safe middle-class economy. Who has sold our country down the drain? Both parties.
Obama has started in the tiniest right direction, by putting a two-year moratorium on representatives leaving Congress before allowing them to work for a lobbying firm. That's not good enough. What I propose is this: If you ever have been or are, a representative or lobbyist, either on a federal or state level, you can no longer qualify to work in the opposite field. Ever. We must stop the revolving door between Wall Street and D.C., and now throughout our state governments.
Isn't it time we change compassionate conservatism to compassionate capitalism, for the majority?
Industry will, rightly, pursue its private interest, which is both profit, and these days, not getting sued, but it's the role of government to look after the public's interest. Take the FDA for instance, which has dealt with numerous outbreaks of salmonella and E-coli contamination.
And now, the Peanut Corporation of America " to date, 9 dead and 20,000 sick. Is it because government was too big or not? You decide.
ANNELIESE PUTHE
Carson City
Gibbons sitting in the front row
Dear Gov. Gibbons,
On behalf of state employees who feel the same way as I do, this is in response to your incredulous defense of raises for your staff, due to the 11 percent salary savings because your staff is below the "allowed 27 positions."
Your office is no different than the hundreds of state offices across the state that are also understaffed and have saved in salary expenses; yet you have the gall to request salary decreases for us, while you try to look like the good guy to your staff.
I am amazed how the Bernie Madoff list of wannabes is growing by the moment. Thanks to unethical, immoral and greedy CEOs and elected officials like you, we all know where we are going and why we are in this hand basket; and you, sir, have a front row seat.
Absolutely unbelievable.
DAWNA SNYDER
Sparks
Good teachers, effective instruction
For decades class size reduction has been the single most popular education reform strategy entertained in hopes of improving academic achievement. The outcome of this strategy has been escalating costs and falling achievement.
Small classes are loved by parents who believe their children will benefit from more individual attention. Teachers are happy because their jobs become easier with fewer students. The unions are delighted with more members preserving the status quo.
There is no evidence that small class size alone - without a change in instruction - leads to greater academic achievement. Performance indicators such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress have not improved. Scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test have fallen. On international tests other countries continue to trounce the United States. Studies by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, the Harvard University Program on Educational Policy and other think-tanks conclude there is no correlation between small class size and high academic achievement.
Because of legislatively mandated small primary grade classes, Nevada has 2,000 extra teachers in classrooms incurring immense costs with no commensurate gain in academic achievement.
Nevada's place on the national academic achievement continuum is dismal. On the 2007 NAEP, only 24 percent of eighth-graders read at the proficient level. The remaining 76 percent scored at basic or below basic " minimal literacy. Nevada students' average score was higher than only one other state. Fourth-grade reading scores are equally poor indicating a failure to learn to read in the primary grades where small classes are the norm. (NAEP website: www.nces.ed.gov/nations
reportcard/reading)
At all levels achievement could be raised and costs reduced by changing ineffective instructional practices and modestly increasing class size accomplished by the elimination of poor teachers. Standards of teacher preparation must be enhanced, competency in subject content must be demonstrated and effective methodologies must be implemented in classrooms beginning with the fundamental building block of all educational success, phonics intensive beginning reading instruction.
Good teachers and effective instruction make all the difference. Getting the teachers' union out of this equation would be a major achievement.
SHARON KIENTZ
Carson City