Thursday, December 27, 2007
Santa shouldn't be fodder for a cartoon
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Santa shouldn't be fodder for a cartoon
Regarding the Dec. 21 editorial cartoon by Mike Keefe:
I kept staring at this cartoon and trying to figure out why. I can't see a reason. Funny? Informative? No. Mean-spirited? Yes. An insult to children and policemen everywhere? Yes.
You see, Santa Clause is real. He is not a cartoon character or a joke. He lives in a place that is good and pure. When that place is no longer innocent, he leaves and appears in a new innocent and good place. There is a new wonderful place created with the birth of every child.
The people at this paper are good and kind people. So as I keep staring at this cartoon, and I keep trying to figure out why.
For those children who saw this cartoon, I will tell you, Santa is all about good. Let's hope Keefe changes his ways so Santa can visit him next year.
Last of all, if you are someone who doesn't believe for any number of reasons, that is fine, but Santa is still all about good and is a policeman's friend. You see many policemen who have given him a place to live. Some still do.
Spanish-speakers should learn English
This is America and English is the language of the land.
Other immigrants have been eager to learn the language in order to assimilate into our society as quickly as possible. Therefore, we have not had to press one for Italian, two for German, etc. Why is Spanish different?
To learn another language is admirable, but not to know one makes you neither uneducated nor closed minded.
Our common language unites us as a nation. Nicole Lovell ("Spanish-language ad offends," Dec. 17 letter) has a right to be concerned.
Americans should embrace languages
I was shocked when I read Nicole Lovell's letter "Spanish-language ad offends" (Dec. 17). How can a person write such a letter in 2007?
First of all, with all due respect, Lovell has not had a very international college education and has for sure a very narrow view of today's world. Business is international, and with the growing Hispanic population, U.S. Cellular, which certainly employs many American citizens, has understood that there was a market for their products.
Any student who has an engineering degree, a law degree or a master's in marketing will find a job more easily if he or she knows a foreign language.
I wish many more companies would advertise in several languages like in Europe. In Europe it is mandatory to have a minimum of two languages on all the brochures, packaging, advertisements, etc.
The United States is a large country, but the world has become smaller; don't let language be a barrier.
Two of our greatest Founding Fathers spoke another language: French. They were Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.
In the public forum, English should rule
With no disrespect to Emily Poff's letter "Spanish ad's aim is a Hispanic market. So?" (Dec. 24), I could care less if other languages were spoken in the home.
But when it comes to the public forum, we need English only and that is to encourage the nonfluent speakers to better themselves and get out of the fruit-picking fields and on to better things.
We should not be encouraging the Spanish-only language. If you cannot learn fluent English, you are doing yourself no good to better yourself and destroying my wallet.
In a nut shell, this is America. Why should I have to learn your language in my land?
Undisturbed land holds subtle magic
I love Mill Mountain and would hate to have it inundated by trucks and infrastructure construction, even for a green hotel. I am concerned that this kind of development might make wanderers, athletes and nature lovers unwelcome to explore and spend unstructured time there.
Our parks and truly green spaces must remain undisturbed to serve their subtle but essential purposes. People use these spaces every day. Other thoughtful stewards have added to existing parks like Fern, Rivers Edge, Mill Mountain and Longwood in recent years with treasures like Green Hill, Happy Hollow, Walrond, Carvins Cove and the developing greenway trails.
We as a community use them all and are still finding beautiful walks and bike paths close enough to home and work to visit within the time constraints of our busy lives.
A quick walk on Mill Mountain between appointments can make all the difference in a day. A longer trek every day is the balancing factor in a fulfilling professional life.
Please preserve the park land and encourage the stewardship that provides for them. Our regional park systems make this a truly great place to live.
Only Congress sets wilderness areas
Charles Huppuch's letter "Wilderness bill smells of politics" (Dec. 21) misrepresents the process for establishing wilderness areas in national forests, claiming that Rick Boucher and other members of Congress "disregard laws and make their own to placate a few" and create "an end-run around the lawful wilderness process."
By law, Congress alone is responsible for establishing wilderness areas, taking into consideration the recommendations of the Forest Service, other organizations and the public. Boucher's Virginia Ridge and Valley Act followed that procedure.
The Jefferson Forest Plan of 2004, which Huppuch believes to have been bypassed, was only one of several inputs. It was developed by the Forest Service after many public meetings.
Before one important meeting, the Forest Service supervisor told wilderness advocates that they had better show up if they wanted to be heard, and when they came in droves, he told them that he had to consider the views of people who were not there.
Three county boards of supervisors endorsed more wilderness in their counties than the forest plan contained, but they were ignored. And a diverse collection of organizations supported wilderness. There was considerable public support for wilderness, and Congress recognized it.
Don't shield Americans from 'apartheid wall'
I commend you for publishing the brief article on the effects of the Israeli security barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem ("Israeli forces keep Bethlehem isolated from outside world," Dec. 23). Americans continue to be in ignorance of this wall and the detrimental effects it is having on the Palestinian people -- as well as on the entire prospect for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thank you for giving us an unvarnished glimpse of today's Bethlehem.
However, I question your choice of accompanying photograph. By showing pilgrims at prayer in the grotto beneath the Church of the Nativity, you focus our attention on Christian piety, while shielding us from the painful reality the article describes.
Why do our media show so few images of the separation barrier being erected by the Israeli government -- called a "security fence" by the Israelis, an "apartheid wall" by the Palestinians? (For your readers who want to see a fuller picture of the reality in Bethlehem, I recommend the December 2007 issue of National Geographic.)
Please don't hide the difficult truth of today's Bethlehem from our eyes. We need to see the results of our own nation's failure of diplomatic nerve.
