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Don't release feral cats back onto the streets

Can you guarantee that the cats you are trapping are indeed feral and not someone's pet that's been out for some fresh air and exercise? You very well could be neutering someone's property ("Litter prevention," June 16 news story).

What seems like feral aggression toward all people can be overcompensation for plain, old fear of what they find to be a very scary situation. Once reunited with the owner, the cat becomes a completely different animal. (The same goes for dogs.)

The object of these missions should be to get these animals off the streets. If that means, upon evaluation, that the cat is found not adoptable and euthanized, it's more humane than having one left to suffer from injuries, hunger or cruelty.

Many people can't stand the thought of "killing an animal for nothing," but that's not what we do. The word "euthanasia" comes from two Greek words meaning "good death." It's quiet and gentle if done properly, and many places across the country are under strict guidelines to assure the animals' best interest.

Spaying/neutering does help, but turning the animal back out to fend for itself is counterproductive to the greater mission.

Attendant

Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection in Roanoke

Gax-tax increase is a no-brainer

Re: Morgan Griffith's comment, "There's a lot of brain power being spent on looking at alternatives" ("Kaine renews old road plans," June 22 news story):

It's pretty obvious to everyone, except House Republicans, that the answer is a no-brainer -- increase the state tax on gasoline.

These guys always use the excuse that it would unfairly penalize the poor, but the real reason is that it is contrary to their doctrine to keep Virginia a so-called low-tax state. In today's world of 5- to 10-cent per week increases in gas prices, an additional 5 cents per gallon in state tax would hardly be noticed.

Ultimately, those who use Virginia's roads should be bearing the cost to build and maintain them; this includes those passing through from other states. The only fair way to accomplish this is through an increased state gas tax.

If telecoms did wrong, hold them accountable

Re: "Bill protects companies involved in post-9/11 taps," June 20 Political Notebook brief:

Now they say if the government purportedly told them it was OK, a right-wing judge can let them off the hook.

How stupid do they think we are? This is just the same old "just following orders" Nazi war criminal defense. It did not fly then, and shame on the Congress for trying to enshrine it into U.S. law now.

Just because some White House stooge attorney drafted a secret legal opinion (so classified that even Congress is not allowed to see it even now), that does not turn treason into patriotism. And if the telecoms did something wrong by enabling illegal domestic wiretaps, they knew it at the time and must be held accountable.

Thanks (clunk) for the lousy roads

Well, they've done it again. Next time you bounce over a pothole or have to make a detour because a bridge has become unusable, thank your state delegate.

Nobody likes taxes. Nobody especially likes increased taxes. Yet we all expect all of the services that the government of the commonwealth has always provided.

We expect our potholes to be filled and our bridges to be safe. We expect new roads when and where they're needed.

Gov. Tim Kaine and the state Senate wisely tried to do something about the morass that Virginia transportation funding has become. But thanks to our ever-helpful, Republican-dominated House of Delegates, it was shot down.

Remember that next time your teeth rattle as you're driving over a pothole. More important, remember that next time you go to vote.

Higher wages, fewer jobs -- duh

It was with a mixture of amusement and frustration that I read The Roanoke Times article Wednesday describing the lack of summer jobs for teenagers ("Summertime blues," June 25 Extra).

The Times, in lockstep as usual with the national liberal agenda, pushed for increases in the minimum wage for years ("House GOP teases the poorest workers," Aug. 3, 2006, editorial). Most conservatives opposed the measure -- not because they are mean and liberals are kind, as your childish editorial suggested, but because they understood the negative impact the increase would have on the job market and many small businesses.

Lo and behold, the first full summer of the staged wage increase arrives, and there are fewer jobs available. Who, other than anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of economics, would have thought it?

Your editorial staff misses no opportunity to encourage more government control, less personal freedom and more interference with the natural supply and demand forces that form the backbone of capitalism.

Taxes should be sensible equalizers

There are lots of crazy ideas about taxes being debated among candidates for public offices, not just for president. Here are some things to consider:

The CEO of an airline isn't worth 10 cents of the pay, to me as an airline traveler, of the mechanic who prepares the plane for flight, though the CEO is paid thousands of times more.

Isn't a great teacher worth more to society than some movie celebrity, rock star or wrestling champ? Then why are they not paid more? How about the emergency room nurse who routinely saves our lives, but makes a fraction of what the physician makes who shows up only if the episode corresponds with his schedule?

This is where and why taxes should be assessed -- to account and redress the ridiculous pseudo-capitalistic inequity between real value of human effort and the silly value placed on it by the stock market.

Thank God there will be no stock market in 2030. The market depends on a growing society of wealth and a growing, easily accessible range of natural resources. Neither will exist in 2030. So don't put your retirement money in the market. It won't be there when you need it.

In almost 60 years, no complaints

Thanks, dear Roanoke Times, for taking up for yourself ("About everyone was there but the newspaper," June 20 letter). I admire you. After reading The Roanoke Times for close to 60 years -- no complaints from me. You make my day. You count your blessings and drink your Dr. Peppers at 10, 2 and 4 -- just like I do.

It's summer, and the drinking's too easy

Re: "Many teens who drink get alcohol for free from adults" (June 26 news story):

Most teens report that alcohol is easy to get. During summer, teens have more time with friends and more freedom. In the summertime, teens are at high risk to start drinking and teen drunken-driving deaths are at their highest.

National and local surveys make it clear alcohol drinking among youth is widespread and harmful. Teens who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who wait until age 21. Each additional year of delaying drinking reduces the probability of alcohol dependence by 14 percent.

Also, our brains are not fully mature until our mid-20s. Introducing alcohol during the developmental phase can lead to cognitive impairment, meaning problems with learning, memory and decision-making.

Adults who turn a blind eye to their teen's drinking should think about the fact that adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, are more likely to fall behind and have an increased risk of social problems, depression and violence. Not to mention it is illegal.

RAYSAC Coordinator Roanoke Area Substance Abuse Coalition Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare