www.roanoke.com

We'd never fall for a charismatic leader, right?

Once upon a time, there was a charismatic and eloquent young leader who decided his nation needed a change and he was the one to implement it.

The people were receptive and ready for a change. He spoke passionately when denouncing the existing system, and the press loved him.

Nobody questioned what he believed in or who his friends were. He would help the poor and bring free medical care and education to all. He would bring justice and equality. He said, "I am for hope and change, and will bring you both."

Nobody bothered to ask about the change, so by the time the executioner's guns went silent, all guns had been confiscated. When everyone was finally equal, they were equally poor, hungry and miserable. Their free education was worthless.

When the change was fully implemented, the country had been reduced to Third World status. More than a million people fled in small boats and rafts. The charismatic young leader was Fidel Castro; the nation, Cuba.

The citizens of the United States would never fall for a charismatic, eloquent young leader who promises hope and change without asking, "What change, and how much will it cost us?" Would we?

Views on Christianity have it all wrong

I read your editorial section and am amazed at the fact that you allow opinions to be printed for all to read regarding Christians that are all wrong. True Christians are not a bunch of fear-mongering "gloom and doomers." The message of salvation is really that of love and hope, despite the world's (or Roanoke's) condition. I encourage each of you who is open-minded to be open-hearted as well. Read John 3:16.

Roanoke's airport spurns business

James Turner's commentary on July 30, "Flights will continue in Roanoke," reiterated what many in the flying community have known for years. The Roanoke Regional Airport Commission is concerned only about commercial airlines and not about corporate or general aviation.

It's not hard to find the reasons why businesses and pilots are avoiding Roanoke, yet Turner did not include any of these in his commentary:

By design, Roanoke's airport has only one fuel provider. According to AirNav.com, Roanoke's fuel provider has the most expensive fuel of any airport within a 50 nautical mile radius. In most cases, Roanoke's prices are more than $1 more per gallon.

Inflated lease rates, along with the fuel prices, have forced companies based in and around Roanoke to move their airplanes to surrounding airports. Roanoke's only flight school moved to Blacksburg after the commission continued to support the fuel monopoly.

Now Roanoke has no flight school; and if you are already a pilot, there is no place to rent an airplane. With the drastic drop in the number of operations at the airport, the airport commission should greet every pilot with open arms. Instead, pilots pass over Roanoke en route to more accommodating airports.

Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor

'This old house' is no Cape Cod

Re: "This old house," July 30 Virginia section:

Please do not call "this old house" a Cape Cod-style house. There is no such thing -- it is slang for a small Colonial Revival-style house, which wouldn't be built for another 100 years.

Please give this house the dignity it deserves. It is a circa 1830 one-story-with-loft brick house with a hall-and-parlor floor plan. I researched this house as an architectural historian with the Roanoke Regional Preservation Office, a field office of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Dr. John Kern is the director of the field office. The city of Roanoke owns the house and extended to me the courtesy of a site visit. I have not worked at the field office since 2001, so my description of the house is from memory. It may very well be the oldest extant house in Roanoke, but it is certainly not a Cape Cod-style house.

McCain hasn't won any wars

I have heard John McCain on several occasions on television make this statement, "I know how to win wars." Please, could some media person or anyone who might know tell me how McCain knows how to win wars?

I'm 73 years old and I remember we won World War II. It was a tie for the Korean War, and we definitely lost Vietnam.

I respect McCain's POW status, but that doesn't give him experience in winning wars. The media are giving him a pass and not asking hard questions.

Give people trains and they'll switch

Dan Radmacher's column "Energy's high cost may force shift to rail" (July 27 Horizon) is pretty much on target so far as the need for more passenger rail service. What I take issue with is that America's love affair with the automobile will take a long time to die and the passenger train may not come back as soon as some think.

I've got news for Radmacher. America's love affair with the automobile never applied to long-distance driving between cities, even after the interstate highways appeared in the '50s.

The average inter-city journey has never been more than 50 to 100 miles. Beyond that, most of us dread long trips, no matter how cheap gasoline might be. Many vacationers, tourists, road-warrior salesmen and day-trippers on Interstate 81 are there because they have no alternatives to speak of: no passenger trains; few inter-city buses; inadequate, costly and infrequent airline service that does not serve most nearby cities.

Given traffic congestion, bad-weather delays, fear of accidents and breakdowns, highway hypnosis and road rage, the cost of motels and parking, it's amazing there ever was a love affair with the automobile. Let's get those passenger trains moving now and we'll see how much demand for them will surface.

Getting the science wrong on power plant

Pete Sarjeant's piece, "Wise plant adds to life cycle" (July 31 commentary), is full of misinformation and ignorance.

His point seems to be that since CO2 is a natural substance required by plants, then the more C02 we have, the better. Water is also a natural substance required by all life, but people die from drowning all the time.

He says C02 is absorbed by the oceans and used by animals to make their shells. This is perfectly true, but science has shown that excess C02, as we have now, is acidifying the oceans and making it more difficult for marine animals to build their shells. Similarly, excess C02 in the air has been shown to benefit weeds and other undesirable plants more than it does helpful plants.

Sarjeant is mistaken that the oxygen released by plants comes from C02. This oxygen comes from water.

Military assaults are an outrage

Re: "1 in 3 military women report harassment," March 15 news story:

According to news reports, one-third of women serving in the military are raped by (heterosexual) servicemen. And reports show that few cases are acted upon in military courts. This is a disgusting piece of news.

It looks as if women fighting in Iraq are more likely to be raped than killed in this war. Furthermore, these perpetrators of sexual abuse crimes are part of an establishment that is afraid of allowing gays in the military. I wonder why that is?