Beetlemania, Tosches, tyranny, recycling, mad veteran and more.


Rotten alternatives
It is ironic that the concept of "healthy forests" ("Beetlemania," cover story, March 13) is being proposed to manage our state and national forests now that the trees and habitats are dead or dying.

Environmental groups have forced state and federal stewards of our forests to eliminate logging and any other management method to rejuvenate our mature forests. Catastrophic beetle kills and uncontrollable forest fires have been the so-called "natural" and de facto approach to mismanage this resource.

Rather than sequester the carbon in trees through logging and providing lumber for new houses or other construction, the environmental activists have given us a billion rotting trees that will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Strict environmentalism, without regard for economic and other consequences on man, has led to bans on drilling in Alaska and the building of nuclear and coal-fired power plants for electricity. How did carbon dioxide produced from rotting trees, or uncontrolled forest fires, somehow become acceptable, and carbon dioxide produced by burning coal is not?

Unfettered environmentalism is like the other "isms" that have been used to subjugate man. Good stewardship must balance and include the impact on mankind.

Dick Standaert
Colorado Springs

Defending Tosches
Lest anyone think that Rock Chasko ("Satire falls short," Letters, March 6) speaks for others regarding Rich Tosches' column, I submit that we need to hear much more satire to help deflate the bombastic maneuvering we are supposed to accept as government.

Stay put, and keep twisting the blade, Rich!

Tom MacDonald

Spotting tyranny
I really don't like to resort to name-calling. It only proves how unintelligent a person is. As the old saying goes, profanity is the sign of a weak mind expressing itself loudly.

However, after reading Doug Roman ("One-way ticket," Letters, March 13), all I could think of was: Oh no, someone else verbally vomiting the rhetoric, "This is America love it or leave it!"

There is just one problem with that. This is not the America our founding fathers envisioned, i.e. the constitutionally guaranteed republic. If it were, it would be more like Sweden, Denmark, Norway et al, a place where you can openly walk down the street smoking a "joint" or, heck, even sit in a park shooting heroin into your veins. It's your body; do with it as you will; just don't endanger me, nor anyone else.

There is a quote by Emiliano Zapata: "Ignorance and obscurantism have never produced anything other than flocks of slaves for tyranny." I, for one, am sick and tired of the tyrannical, terrorist-based, Christo-fascist Puritans committing treasonous and unconstitutional acts with absolutely nothing being done.

Dwayne Schultz
Colorado Springs

Big Brush blues
Even after reading Brian Kerska's tortuous letter ("Sad surprise," Letters, Feb. 28) three times, I'm not completely clear on what he is trying to say.

It seems he's feeling kind of sad because he feels he has not been accepted by our mean-spirited community. He claims to be "open-minded" and "tolerant," but then takes out the Big Brush to state that he's worried about children who have the audacity to attend a private school becoming "puppets," and not receiving the same well-rounded, real-world successful education that apparently only the public school system can deliver.

Oh, and anyone who disagrees must be (to use his words) "close-minded" and "stifling."

If Brian would like to find happiness, he should look in the mirror. He may see his "open mind" is not as open as he thinks, and he just pisses people off instead of engaging them. He appears to have the typical human trait of believing that he has all of the answers; everyone else is either an idiot or part of some conspiracy to screw the world.

Ben Miller
Colorado Springs

Lamborn's latest
Lucky us, we received the latest election propaganda from U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn. We received not one but two (again); one for each registered voter, I'd guess. Apparently Lamborn's staff isn't smart enough to send one mailing per household.

These are multicolored, glossy mailings, not cheap black-and-white postcards. And we pay for it all, as the mailer says: "This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense."

Lamborn is always touting himself as the most conservative of the conservatives in the House of Representatives. Even though I'm not a Republican, I wish he'd ask someone what conservatives stand for:

Less government (so, no need for a law regarding the pledge of allegiance the "under God" wasn't inserted until the Eisenhower presidency);

More fiscal responsibility (so, one mailer per household, for starters);

Less interference in our private lives (so, leave the decisions about a woman's body to the woman).

I know, I'm dreaming. My hope is that this fall the Democrats who showed up in force at the county assembly will show up in force to oppose Lamborn. The backup plan is that the Republicans recognize Lamborn for the embarrassment he is and vote him out.

Sheila Wallace
Colorado Springs

Our '70s mentality
Recycling in Colorado Springs ... who knew it was so hard to figure out? I decided to become much more proactive about it, to help teach my kids how important it is. I have been surfing the Internet trying to figure out who does what, and I'm shocked at how pitifully limited it is here.

My parents live in Oregon, and they recycle almost everything, mainly through their home garbage collection. I have heard it is not "cost-effective" for local businesses, but when you see all the recycled products on the market (which I will always buy over their "new" counterparts), it's making money for someone, somewhere, not to mention helping the environment.

Why not here? I can remember learning about recycling in school in the '70s, and we don't seem much further along in the local community. I know I am not the only person here to find this a problem. What can we do?

I was happy to find out you can drop most things off at Recycle America, as I found many other people doing the day I went. Plus, you can drop off a lot of things at Wal-Mart on Eighth Street. I would like to come up with an easy, comprehensive guide for the local area. Care to help? I think we can do better.

Wendy Brown
Colorado Springs

Thanks to Ritter
Every Coloradan who cares about expanding access to health care should commend Gov. Bill Ritter for his principled and strong opposition to President Bush's Medicaid budget cuts.

Bush's plan would not only hurt the already vulnerable families relying on Medicaid funding, but would also impact nursing homes, community centers, children, seniors and people with disabilities. The Bush plan would permanently undermine the integrity of Medicaid, a public-health program that provides coverage for 47 million low-income Americans, including more than 746,000 Coloradans. This is nearly one in every six Colorado residents.

Medicaid provides essential health care coverage for low-income Coloradans. Without it, 60 percent of the state's poorest would be at the mercy of inadequate coverage or, even worse, risk joining the ranks of the uninsured. Medicaid funds also play a critical role in supporting Colorado's health infrastructure and bolstering our fragile state economy.

Instead of working to support states struggling to maintain public-health programs in the face of rising costs, an aging population and temporary economic downturns, Bush's plan forces states to cut essential services and deepen our health care crisis. The current Medicaid program is the solution, not the problem, and it needs to be expanded, not cut.

Thanks to Gov. Ritter for his leadership in supporting the current Medicaid program and opposing proposals that undermine Colorado families, our economy and the future.

Francoise Mbabazi
Colorado Progressive Coalition

Mad veteran
Today, I can say that I am disappointed in the leadership of America. I am an Army veteran and feel that patriotism is the willingness to stand up for the principles that this country represents. Patriotism is not just going with the flow of the current administration because it is easy or convenient.

The president vetoed a bill that would prevent the CIA from using torture on suspected terror suspects to gain information. I do not believe that torture is moral; I would not want the enemy to use it on my friends in the military or on any other soldier or civilian.

I do realize the terrorists' tactics are immoral, but if America is engaged in a "War on Terror," it is hypocritical to use terror to fight terror. I do not believe in what the terrorists are doing or what they stand for; however, I also believe that if America wants to assume it is morally superior to the terrorists, it cannot use terror to achieve its goals.

If you would like more information, please research the issue, and if you agree, call your congressman and demand action!

Andrea Rose
Colorado Springs

Cut the card
We have spent over a half-trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon budget has gone up $70 billion a year. Billions and billions have been spent on the damage done by Katrina, $29 billion on homeland security, $243 billion for farm subsidies over 10 years, and the billions in hidden costs to aid our veterans' medical problems.

This administration cut taxes for corporate giants and the super-wealthy, which took tens of billions out of the treasury and left us with a $9 trillion deficit. How can a country spend billions and billions more and take in hundreds of billions less?

This is absurd. Our dollar is collapsing on the world market, and it takes $l.56 American dollars to buy one euro. Our dollar is in the bucket. President Bush proposes $600 for all taxpayers, and Congress went along because it is an election year. This will cost $146 billion-plus, which we will have to borrow from China or somewhere else.

We are running this country on a credit card. Just borrow, borrow! We cannot constantly go into debt. They try to blame the whole thing on earmarks, just a small portion of our $3 trillion budget.

We have to take in more revenue, or the dollar will go further down. Soon the Arab oil cartels will not accept dollars because they will lose huge sums of money as our dollar collapses. They are talking of taking euros instead of American money.

This is disastrous. We have to pay our debts.

Irwin MacLeod
Colorado Springs

  • Beetlemania, Tosches, tyranny, recycling, mad veteran and more.

Comments (4)

Showing 1-4 of 4

Add a comment

Subscribe to this thread:
Showing 1-4 of 4

Add a comment

Popular Events

Most Commented On

Top Viewed Stories
