Saturday, November 14, 2009
A lovely experience aboard the train to Shenandoah
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A lovely experience aboard the train to Shenandoah
I want to commend everyone in the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society for the wonderful train excursion this past weekend. My husband and I were on the Sunday trip to Shenandoah, and it was a lifetime experience. The chapter did a great job of organizing the event, and the 60 volunteer helpers not only took care of our every need, but seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the experience themselves.
When we got to Shenandoah, the folks there had a wonderful Sunday sit-down meal for us, with heaping plates of good old home-cooking. It seemed to be a major event for the town as well, as hundreds of waving citizens greeted our arrival and gave us a send-off when we left.
Kudos to chapter president Jeff Sanders, his dedicated band of member volunteers, to Norfolk Southern, Amtrak and the owners of the beautiful private cars we enjoyed.
I wish everyone in Roanoke could experience travel the relaxed railroad way. Public pressure might hasten the day when we can get rail passenger service restored to Roanoke and across the country. Don't miss the next opportunity to enjoy such an excursion.
It's the only way to go.
Cut the sound bites; find common ground
Re: Serge Popper's letter of Nov. 9, "Thanks for helping Virginia be a red state":
The citizens of Virginia might conversely wish to thank former Gov./Sen. George Allen, former Gov. Jim Gilmore, former Sen. John Warner and former Rep. Virgil Goode, as well as current Reps. Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes, Bob Goodlatte, Rob Wittman and Frank Wolf, for helping to turn Virginia blue and electing President Obama.
One might says years of apparently unquestioning dedication to the Republican Party's governing efforts led to greater disparity between rich and poor, greater instability in the Middle East and near total collapse of the world economy. One might say these Republicans disregarded not the wishes of their constituents but their welfare while pursuing the Republican agenda. Would that be fair?
Instead of throwing insults and accusations back and forth, let's find common ground and have thoughtful discussions about difficult and complex issues that shouldn't be reduced to sound bites. Virginia will be better for it.
Anti-Christian beliefs fuel Muslims' hatred
Isn't it time to quit tip-toeing around the issue, stop the politically correct jabber and address the problem of why so many Americans are afraid of Muslims? In the Nov. 7 news story "Shooting fuels anti-Muslim fears," Virginia Tech professor Hesham Rakha asked, "If he was a Christian, would we be talking about the Christians?" This is a cop-out.
Let's review a few facts: Nidal Malik Hasan yelled "allahu akbar" before opening up on innocent men and women; there were Muslims on the streets of New York City calling Hasan a hero and carrying on about how they hate this country and that all Americans should die; some Muslims believe terrorists will be rewarded in the afterlife, and they consider all those who are not Muslim to be infidels.
I strongly suggest that if Muslims do not like this country, they simply leave.
The military should review its policy of allowing Muslims in the military. Stop worrying about gays and be more concerned with a group who have the blood of innocent Americans on their hands.
This country was founded by Christians seeking religious freedom. Are we to lose these freedoms to one group who murder and degrade our citizens?
We are spending our grandchildren's money
We are spending money at the national level at an unsustainable rate. A few years from now, when other nations will no longer buy our bonds and our nation is out of money, what will I tell my grandchildren when they say, "Grandpa, why did you spend all our money?" Terrifying thought isn't it?
I don't have an answer. Can someone help me?
