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Americans' hunger for fuel comes at such a high price

Letters to the Editor
Published November 26, 2004

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Re: Signe Wilkinson political cartoon, Nov. 15.

A soldier dies from a car bomb. Another dies from sniper fire. Each day our soldiers "fight' to stay alive. We send our children off to foreign soil, to protect our way of life.

And how do we thank them? We lounge in the lap of luxury! Our power plants surge at full capacity so the thermostat can be set at 72 degrees. Our hunger for all things electric gobbles up fossil fuel with a ravenous appetite. And we are the smart animals on this planet.

Remember that, each time you turn the key in your SUV. Forget that we are poisoning each other. Killing the air we breathe. Just feel the pride sitting way up high, in all that decadent glory. Above all the fumes and noise. Each gallon you guzzle puts more American dollars into the pockets of those we are trying to conquer. Maybe you don't understand you can make it to the supercenter mega mall using a whole lot less.

Really, I blame the automakers. SUVs abound. Make them, and they will buy them. A whole lot of them. And now, we can't live without them. Look a weary soldier in the eyes, and explain that one.

-- John Bronson, Zephyrhills

Restrict cell phone use for drivers

Re: Parents fight for cell phone regulations, Nov. 22.

The death of two small children at the hands of a driver on a cell phone who has not even been charged only emphasizes the urgency of some regulation by the Legislature of cell phone use by motorists.

Since this issue first arose, these devices have become much more distracting with the addition of cameras, games, text messaging and e-mail.

Hopefully your readers will take time to request a copy of the petition by the parents of the victims at the e-mail address you listed: skyla2000@msn.com

-- John Royse, St. Petersburg

Hands-free phones are no solution

Re. Parents fight for cell phone regulations.

I am a 7,000-mile-per-year cyclist and avid newspaper reader who pays careful attention to the issue of "phoning-while-driving" since I consider it a life-threatening situation while I ride through traffic.

My heart goes out to the family that lost two daughters to a "phoned-out" driver, but the solution they pursue is misguided.

Studies continue to show that drivers project themselves out of their surroundings when phone talk takes place. One driver-simulator study showed a group that was legally drunk performed better than a group in hands-free phone conversation.

Many auto club and insurance organizations oppose the hands-free solution as false.

Recent insurance data showing a stunning increase in accident rates among 16-year-old girls and my observations of increased phone use by elderly drivers further convince me of the urgency to ban this recently discovered "necessity."

-- James W. Benefiel, Dunedin

The folly of gun prohibition

Re: The high cost of gun rights, letter, Nov. 23.

Just ban guns! It's the cry of the shortsighted. If we just ban guns, it would surely prevent violent crimes involving guns just the way the ban on narcotics prevents drug trafficking and use. The new war on guns would be just as successful as the unwinnable war on drugs.

Extremely dangerous and lucrative gun trafficking rings would spring up overnight. Anyone who wants a gun would still be able to get one - just like drugs, which have been illegal for nearly a century. To enforce the ban, there would be a need for more agencies, more law enforcement, more prisons and much more money. This is just the tip of the iceberg in the flawed "just ban guns" cry.

At the end of the day, you are no safer after a ban on guns than before.

-- Steve Ryan, Palmetto

Avoid blanket judgments of teens

Re: Unreasonable restrictions, editorial, Nov. 23.

Bravo to the Times for acknowledging that teens' rights should be honored, too. When I was a teen it seemed that school and community authorities thought any restriction on us - no matter how unjust or overreaching - was justified. This was predicated on the fallacious notions that, given the chance, any teen will most certainly do wrong, and that it's acceptable to punish all teens for the actions of a few.

Due to this rationale, a lot of basically good kids like myself lived under a sort of '80s version of the Patriot Act. Freedoms were frequently curtailed and dissent was not allowed, all under the pretext of our own well-being.

I'm now 36 and I still don't buy that. Teens can be a real pain in the neck, and worse. But that doesn't justify making blanket judgments against them, whether legal or personal.

-- Patrick Moody, Brandon

A right to his beliefs, sort of

Re: Cartoon was venomous, letter, Nov. 18.

I couldn't help but notice the irony in the letter about the Pat Oliphant cartoon of Nov. 15.

On one hand, the letter writer reminds us that "Many men and women have fought and died for his (Oliphant's) right to his beliefs . . ." How dare him, though, actually think he has the right to express those beliefs when they are different from those of the letter writer.

Unfortunately, this attitude is all too prevalent nowadays - you have the right to express your opinion, just as long as it's exactly like mine!

-- Robert Lindskog, Palm Harbor

Politicians paved the way

Re: Basketball fight.

I don't understand why we are so shocked at the recent brawl during the Pistons-Pacers game. After the way some political campaigns were run this past season, is it any surprise that we're sinking to the level of barbarians?

-- Jim Santamour, St. Petersburg

Not by bread alone

Re: Bread, check. Cheese, check. Virgin Mary image?, Nov. 17.

Well, whaddaya know. Someone has a grilled cheese sandwich that bears the image of the Virgin Mary. I wondered where Mary went after her image was shattered on the building in Clearwater. (Although I hear you can sense her presence in the quiet of church when you gaze at her likeness on a statue.)

But wait. It's a 10-year-old sandwich. And the lady who owns it is selling it. Preserving it makes sense if it has brought her good fortune. (Ah, the mystery of heavenly intervention.) But why is she selling it? Doesn't that contaminate the purity of her belief?

Well, at the risk of being as irreverent as she is ridiculous, she should not have been surprised to see the image on this kind of sandwich, since Mary is always . . . (drum roll, please) "with her cheeses."

-- Jack Bray, Dunedin

[Last modified November 25, 2004, 23:20:23]