Letters to the editor Oct. 24

Importance of arts should not be subverted

Throughout history there has been a recognized need for public performance. The Greeks, Romans, Japanese and many other cultures have understood the fact that public performance helps societal morale and escapism especially in times of hardship and austerity.

In these times of economic woe across the nation it would be easy to remove funding from areas that would appear to have no intrinsic value, especially areas that are not vote earners, but the impact of removing venues and support for community gatherings and facilities where people can escape from daily concerns could be socially catastrophic.

It falls upon the elected candidate to be aware of the impact of these issues on the community and to be aware of George Santayana's view of "Reason in Common Sense" (1905-1906): "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Look to even the recent past, that of the 20th century, and see just how the media have shaped the world, especially in times of hardship, then look to the future and try to envision the world without support for the community and its efforts to have a free voice.

If your candidacy relies upon anything it is that of support, but support is always reciprocal; the community needs to see that you are willing to facilitate the future, to work with the present and to understand its past.

Now it is your time to reveal how much commitment and interest you have in maintaining and developing the arts in our community.

Steve Burton

Carson City

What is the sport in hunting black bears?

Seeing Nancy Laird's letter about the bear hunt this last week reminded me that I was going to write about this, too.

Why is that people, especially men, have to kill animals? What kind of sport is it when you have a gun and the animal can only run? If I remember correctly, according to the article in the Nevada Appeal about the possibility of issuing bear hunting licenses, we do not have an overpopulation of bears yet.

The article quoted someone from the Department of Wildlife making the ridiculous statement that having a hunt would cut down on the number of bears being euthanized. In some cases, is it better to be shot and wounded so the bear can run off and die an agonizing death than to be euthanized? I think not! I don't care that other states have sanctioned hunts. Let's rethink this issue.

Dorrine Sadilek

Carson City

Ham-fisted solicitation lost candidate a vote

I received a mailing yesterday from Secretary of State candidate Rob Lauer, or maybe it came from his election committee, but is was signed in pen with a wild "X" across the bottom.

The contention in the letter is that Harry Reid and Ross Miller refused to send out the overseas military ballots to our troops, "most of whom are conservatives."

I find that difficult to believe as there are laws that govern the right to vote absentee. If the claim is true, then Reid and Miller deserve time behind bars. If false, the perhaps Lauer should be at least condemned for lying.

An interesting sentence in the letter caused me to believe that some very low underling drafted the missive. This is supposedly what Rob Lauer said: "This is personally since I didn't get to vote when I was on active duty in." Actual quote.

Additionally, Mr. Lauer besieged me to send a donation "to pay to mail our troops' ballots and registration forms out now!" I don't believe a private citizen can mail ballots to anyone. Last I heard, this was a function of government.

I was going to vote for Mr. Lauer, but I am now looking for an alternate candidate. I'm not enthralled with Mr. Miller either. Any ideas?

Russel J. Reaver

Carson City

Where is Obama outrage over privacy violation?

The Sunday Appeal has a story of the federal government using GPS trackers on automobiles to track what appears to be an Arab individual's travels.

Various courts have ruled this null and void unless a search warrant is obtained. However the Obama administration called the courts' decision "vague and unworkable" and want to continue to use the GPS without a search warrant.

Wasn't it the Obama group that wanted to bring to trial the Bush administration for using the monitoring of overseas phone calls? It's wrong when you do it, but OK when I do it.

Bill Beil

Carson City

Prescription drug roundup netted 105 pounds of pills

Carson City, you did it again! Partnership Carson City's second Prescription Drug Round Up was a success. Over 105 pounds of pills (not including the containers) and 54 pounds of needles were turned in for proper disposal. Thanks to the support of our three Save Mart stores, PCC volunteers and dozens of responsible citizens, potentially harmful medications were kept out of our water supply, and the hands of our young people.

Our sincerest gratitude to all of you that took the time to bring in old and unused medications to the drop off sites, and to the DEA for handling the disposal process.

For those of you that were unable to to participate on the Round Up day, you may still bring in medications for disposal to the front counter of the Sheriff's Office and they will take it from there.

Kathlyn Bartosz

Partnership Carson City