Responsibility for disaster planning
Re: “Disasters can teach all of us something,” Sept. 24 editorial.
Most citizens do not realize that when a disaster hits, the first responders are the citizens. Then there is the response of local government. If the incident overwhelms it, support comes first from surrounding cities, then county, then state, then federal governments – in that order. The big problem is getting citizens to be aware and prepare.
I can’t say we are the model – we are one of many throughout the country – but the city of Littleton has emphasized citizen preparedness for many years. We have an emergency operations plan and, in the mid-1970s, distributed a citizen handbook to every residence in the city. We did it again in the fall of 2001. Editorial emphasis needs to be constantly oriented toward getting the citizens to pay attention to the materials available.
The first line of disaster response has been, is, and will remain the individual and the family.
Stan G. Bush, Centennial
The writer is Littleton emergency planning director. The city’s emergency plans and a copy of the citizen handbook can be found at www.littletongov.org/emergency/default.asp.chief justice who will protect civil and human rights – basic rights that promote the dignity and well-being of our families and of our communities. Basic rights include access to family planning and abortion services. Judge Roberts’ record shows that he may not support the right to access safe and legal abortion. In addition, Roberts’ record is questionable on key civil rights issues such as affirmative action. Nothing that occurred during the Senate confirmation hearings served to clarify Roberts’ positions.
Salazar’s support of Supreme Court nominee
Re: “Salazar to back Roberts for court,” Sept. 26 news story.
In deciding to vote for confirmation of Judge John Roberts as the
chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Sen. Ken Salazar has failed the
very constituents who helped to elect him: Latinas of Colorado. Salazar
has placed more weight on the vague responses that Roberts gave during
his confirmation hearings, and on the one-on-one meetings the men
held together, than on the flood of phone calls, letters and petitions
Salazar received from his constituents urging a “no” vote on Roberts’
nomination.
Colorado Latinas want a chief justice who will protect civil and human
rights basic rights that promote the dignity and well-being of our families
and of our communities. Basic rights include access to family planning
and abortion services. Judge Roberts’ record shows that he may not
support the right to access safe and legal abortion. In addition, Roberts’
record is questionable on key civil rights issues such as affirmative action.
Nothing that occurred during the Senate confirmation hearings
served to clarify Roberts’ positions.
Jacinta Montoya, Denver
The writer is executive director of the Colorado Organization for Latina
Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. …
…
Re: “Salazar’s gut choice defies logic,” Sept. 26 Jim Spencer column.
Jim Spencer still doesn’t understand who was responsible for the election of U.S. Senator Ken Salazar. It wasn’t NARAL or other liberal organizations. Neither was it the conservative organizations that Spencer’s columns disdain (they all voted for Pete Coors). Moderate Democrats and Republicans alike joined forces to elect a Democratic senator in a year that saw George W. Bush easily victorious in Colorado. This should be a valuable lesson for the national Democratic Party if it has any common sense at all.
Ken Seaman, Fort Collins
Why New Orleans should be rebuilt
Katrina victims appreciate charitable attitudes. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, citizens of New Orleans rallied for several years to raise money for victims and to replace fire trucks for the New York Fire Department. No expense was spared in supporting our nation in need. Now that New Orleans is in need, we’re depending on the charitable attitudes of American citizens to help us rebuild our hometown.
New Orleans has been a viable city and port since the 1720s, and historians can attest that the city’s beautiful architecture and culture hold valuable significance for the nation and world. The Port of New Orleans was a key element in the nation’s development, and has continued to provide a commercial outlet for the country. New Orleans and its citizens are resilient. In our 250- year history, we have survived floods, epidemics, hurricanes and the Civil War. It would be shortsighted and uncharitable to think this great city should not be rebuilt because of Hurricane Katrina.
Sevilla Finley, Centennial
The writer is a fifth-generation New Orleanian displaced in Centennial.
Comparing terrorists with 15th century monk
Re: “The war within Islam,” Sept. 18 David Ignatius column.
David Ignatius compares the “Salafists,” an Islamic terrorist group, to Savonarola, the Christian monk who led religious reform during the 15th century in Florence, Italy. This is a stretch.
Although Savonarola burned books, paintings and other humanistic works and recruited young men to spy on their families, he preached returning to the medieval, pre-Renaissance beliefs of Christianity. He also condemned as un-Christian the corruption of the papacy of Borgia Pope Alexander VI and the hedonistic humanism of the Medici, then rulers of the city-state Florence.
Ignatius defines the difference between Savonarola and the Salafists as one of circumstance – the Internet and car bombs were unavailable to Savonarola. But Savonarola did have access to the whole array of deadly Renaissance weapons and the church’s torture tools for extorting confessions. He did not use them.
Burning works of art and literature is not equivalent to blowing up people.
Further, Savonarola accepted the rules of church law in that when he was condemned for heresy, he accepted his sentence of death by burning and acted during his execution with dignity and faith. Savonarola was not a terrorist.
Diana Bickford, Westminster
The benefits of an armed populace
Re: “Aurora woman fires at intruder who cops think was serial rapist,” Sept. 23 news story.
I would like to celebrate the courage of the young Aurora woman who refused to be a victim. She purchased a gun and was forced to use it against an intruder whom police believe was a serial rapist. This is exactly what the right to bear arms is about. It gives a woman the ability to protect herself without the need for a man.
I am sorry for the fear the woman experienced and the need to pull that trigger, but today her neighborhood is a safer place. The next time a man considers trying to do something harmful, he will have to ask, “Is this person armed?” This question is the biggest fear criminals have of their victims.
David DeSandre, Denver
Who will help families rebuild?
Last month, my friends Dionne and Keith Charlet lived in a nice home on Valentine Drive in New Orleans. Keith owned his own business. Dionne worked from home for an Internet-based company and their son attended a local school. They were the definitive image of prosperous, up-and-coming Americans.
Today, Dionne and Keith are sheltering in the home of Keith’s parents in the small town of Zachary, La. They are struggling to find funds to admit their son to a local school, pay for necessary food and expenses and find their way home.
The house on Valentine Drive is still there. My friends will receive a valuation settlement from their insurance company for storm damages. They received $2,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, plus food stamps. They are told they will receive $300 from the Red Cross – eventually.
I appreciate the people who were left homeless, who lost family, who lost everything; but what about my friends, the Charlets, who want to go home, take up the family business and help rebuild New Orleans? Who is going to help them?
Lynn Cox, Denver
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