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Let's honor Dr. King by striving to improve our society

It is an irony that we continue to "celebrate" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the man who literally gave his life for the principles of justice, freedom, economic and educational opportunity, and the right to work and learn, by taking the day off and closing our schools. For sure we will keep the malls open.

Perhaps we can share the dream that some day, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, our schools will be open, day and evening, for programs focused on the importance of diversity, conflict resolution, and economic and social justice in America. Let us open the doors of our public agencies and libraries for dialogue about the yet unresolved issues of race and prejudice in our land.

Let us plan now for an anniversary when we cannot just celebrate, but also recognize and implement, the real significance of Martin Luther King Jr. and the living values of the civil rights movement for the future of America.

A forest rule for the future

Re: The forest for the greed, editorial, Jan. 4.

The Forest Service released its final rule that will guide forest planning in the future for individual forest management plans governing the 155 national forests and 20 grasslands, a rule developed over many years by Forest Service natural resource professionals like me. This rule will take us in to that future, protecting the environment, and promoting all of the values Americans love about their forests - clean air, clean water, abundant wildlife, and the opportunity to enjoy it.

This rule is in full compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. For the first time, the Forest Service will use an Environmental Management System, which will improve performance and accountability through an open and independent audit of all that we do. The new rule establishes public participation and collaboration requirements that far exceed anything that is required by NEPA. The same public notice and comment opportunities afforded under the 1982 planning rule remain in the 2004 rule. In fact, the new rule adds a requirement for the public to be engaged in the monitoring phase of the process through the EMS.

The national forests and grasslands face huge threats to their health and biodiversity. The new rule enables Forest Service experts to respond more rapidly to changing conditions and emerging threats, such as invasive species and unnatural catastrophic wildfire. We will provide for diversity of plant and animal communities by bringing in new information and science as soon as they become available - thus better protecting forests, grasslands and their wildlife.

This is a planning rule that will take us into the 21st century by protecting the environment for present and future generations.

Rabidly partisan liberals

Re: Mainstream media oblivious to their liberal bias, Jan. 14.

Charles Krauthammer's column on the mainstream media's liberal bias shown in the Dan Rather "story" hits the nail on the head.

Basically, anyone could have concluded without much thought or "further investigation" that the Dan Rather fake document story on Bush's supposed "hooky" from Alabama National Guard obligations boiled down to a few sentence summary.

Rather and company are rabidly partisan liberals. They saw the upcoming election was going to be close and knew the leanings of the Supreme Court would likely be influenced for decades by the next-term presidential appointments. They decided they needed a no-holds-barred, 11th hour "eye-gouge" and, at least subconsciously, didn't care if it damaged their reputations. So they grabbed the obviously fake letters as a ruse and pretended they had a story.

What fools. Even if true, who cares?

The message is ignored

Re: Michael Ramirez cartoon, Jan. 12.

I don't disagree that Dan Rather did not fill Walter Cronkite's shoes - I feel that he failed to do so for a very different reason. The current CBS hullabaloo is, simply, kill the messenger and ignore the message.

Why is it so difficult for George W. Bush to provide documentation of his military service (or disservice)? I, as well as all the veterans I know, would have no problem producing similar records of our service.

And more realistically, the large shoes should be labelled "Clinton" and the itsy-bitsy shoes labeled "Bush." After all, numbers don't lie, people lie. Just count all the weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. Then count the casualties.

Hold officers to higher standard

Re: Law enforcement officers escape tickets,Jan. 12.

Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter quoted another deputy as saying: "You don't cite people to punish them. You cite them to teach them."

If that is the case, why do violations result in points against your license and why do they call the money you pay for the ticket a "fine." I bet that most speeders know that what they are doing is wrong, but they receive citations anyway.

Law officers should be held to a higher standard; they should set an example. The deputy in question ran a stop sign. It resulted in an accident involving injury. If that doesn't deserve a citation, nothing does. And, if as Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee states, they have many things distracting them from their driving, maybe they should pull over and stop their cars.

I can only hope that if I am stopped in the future I can tell the officer that I know what I did wrong and avoid a citation.

Lax driving by law enforcement

Re: Law enforcement officers escape tickets.

I see it all the time. Cops grossly exceeding the posted speed limits with no lights/sirens, running traffic signals with no lights/sirens, and driving aggressively, as in lane-jumping and tailgating behind people who are obeying the laws. The Florida Highway Patrol is the worst about this.

Such conduct does not encourage respect for the officers or their leaders who allow these sorts of things to continue. And, as I discovered, the state trooper commanders are not receptive to calls about what their people are doing.

A gem of a comic

Re: Pearls Before Swine.

Stephen Pastis' cartoon strip Pearls Before Swine is hilarious, and is a great addition to the comic page. Thanks for its regular inclusion.

Louis Mignacca, Clearwater

[Last modified January 17, 2005, 01:05:20]