State smoking ban
Re: “How pure can we get?” July 2 Ed Quillen column.
Ed Quillen is my favorite. He’s such an everyman’s writer and so colorful in his expression. I wish there were more of him because while his columns usually lend a chuckle, they also make you think. Last Sunday’s is no exception. Quillen skewers the self-righteous trend over the last decade or so and says what needs to be said.
Unfortunately, the twits rule right now. Not content to simply fix their own miserable lives, they think they know better than everyone else and dictate fixes to the rest of us where they have no business meddling. I’m not a smoker, never have been, and never will be, but this whole Colorado public places smoking ban alarms me because a legal activity involving legal products is curtailed in the name of the public good, and along with countless preoccupied others like myself, I let it happen.
Good heavens, but we have allowed a breach in the rights of property owners by these jackanapes. What next? Which of our property rights are they going to target? Which personal rights?
Kathy Franklin, Arvada
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I would suggest that some of the wild-eyed, fanatic anti-smokers – having usurped still another human right with “Smoke Free Colorado” – now return their zeal and energies toward the much more dangerous and health-threatening problem of pollution. A British study published recently says allergies are occurring earlier in the year and lasting longer because of greenhouse gases and global warming, to cite just one health problem.
Now, thanks to this administration’s “relaxed environmental regulations,” on some days we can’t see the mountains from Denver. You cannot convince me that smoking cigarettes is more dangerous than breathing all that thick pollution.
Lillian Norgren, Denver
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Now we get the backlash of moral superiority from smokers who claim that smoking is a courageous exercise of freedom. Painful irony, coming from people who are physiologically dependent on nicotine. Thousands of smokers have kicked the habit by calling the Colorado Quitline at 800-639-QUIT. The service is free. Addicts are less so.
Lisa Jones, Denver
Clean Water Act
Re: “Clean Water Act threatened,” July 2 Perspective article.
As president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, Larry Schweiger knows, or should know, that the Clean Water Act’s pollution provisions specifically are spelled out for the nation’s “navigable” waters, not “all” waters. It is interesting that only in the third to the last paragraph of his article does he mention the word “navigable.” It is clear that these provisions were intended not for all waters, but for navigable waters.
In more than 37 years in the “environmental” profession, I have seen the intent of the word “navigable” stretched to include the driest pieces of desert that could never support fish or similar fauna, let alone become navigable. Finally, the Supreme Court has gotten back to much closer to the original intent of Congress.
Brien N. Gidlow, Denver
Fort Lewis College
Re: “Fort Lewis chief sets lofty goals for college,” July 2 news story.
As a recent graduate of Fort Lewis College, I found the lead of your article quite grabbing. I can honestly say there were certain points during my college career at Fort Lewis when I spent more time skiing and kayaking than studying. Yet I always cringe when I hear or read Fort Lewis referred to as “Fort Leisure.”
Obviously, some students are going to challenge themselves more than others and some students might seemingly slip by in a leisurely fashion. But the majority of students at Fort Lewis make it a very challenging experience. My coursework, peers, professors and extracurricular activities constantly challenged me. And if it weren’t for the outdoor sports that Fort Lewis is so conveniently situated near, I would have gone mad.
In terms of the college itself, I have had the opportunity to discuss the future of Fort Lewis with president Brad Bartel now and again. I think Dr. Bartel is doing an amazing job and will continue to do an amazing job working with the faculty, staff and students in making Fort Lewis the top liberal arts school in the country.
Stacy Falk, Crested Butte
U.S. energy future
Re: “The biofuel illusion,” July 2 guest commentary.
Julia Olmstead has hit the nail right on the head. If only our political leaders would see the light. The fast fix that everyone is looking for in our pending energy crises is non-existent. There are many patches available, as Olmstead mentioned. If implemented together, we as a nation could start to turn this energy issue around – starting with higher mileage standards and a higher gas tax with the funds earmarked for alternative and renewable energy sources. The federal government needs to immediately end the billion- dollar subsidies to the oil companies, which have been earning multibillion-dollar profits as of late. We need to educate drivers about efficient driving habits, and how to keep cars in optimal running condition. Work toward a higher production level of biofuels, including E-85, biodiesel and natural methane production. Not one of the biofuel options is an end-all fix, but all used in conjunction can make a difference. As our demand increases over the next decade, we should look to decrease our foreign oil dependency by small percentages and start to turn this ship around.
Brian Anderson, Denver
Referendum C
Re: “Ref. C aids economic recovery,” July 2 editorial.
There is no way the government spending my money will aid economic recovery more than me spending it myself. And, since I’m the one who earned it, I have a better right to it than the all-wise bureaucrats who think they know best. The truth is that government is the biggest wastrel of all. Example: The July 3 Rocky Mountain News front- page headline “Blunders dog welfare; State audit finds overpayments, underpayments, fraud add up to $90 million.”
Michelle Hand, Denver
Terror war prisoners
If you wonder why some Americans worry about prisoners at Guantanamo, it might help to look a little closer at your assumptions. A letter in the July 2 Denver Post was typical in its blanket statement that each and every prisoner is a killer. The writer stated, “I don’t know why anyone is in Guantanamo except that they apparently were taken prisoner on the battlefield in Afghanistan … .”
Most of the prisoners weren’t picked up “on the battlefield,” at least not by American troops. According to Rear Adm. John Hudson, a former judge advocate general, we were offering $5,000- $10,000 bounties for Taliban and al-Qaeda figures in Afghanistan. That’s enough to turn a grudge against your neighbor into a serious accusation in that part of the world.
A Seton Hall study found that 86 percent of prisoners weren’t captured by Americans, and the Pentagon classifies only 8 percent of them as belonging to al-Qaeda. Some prisoners, ethnic Uighurs, were determined by the Defense Department to be totally innocent, but they still were held for years.
The White House’s main argument against any sort of review is “Just trust us,” but it hasn’t done much to inspire trust.
Corey Kesler, Aurora
Military recruitment
The other day we received a phone message from the government requesting a response to an “important survey especially for young Americans concerning their future.” My suspicion that it was a not-so-disguised military recruitment solicitation was confirmed when they called back. My wife answered the phone and I listened to her becoming more and more frustrated as the Department of Defense pit bull refused to take “no” for an answer. She tried to explain that our oldest daughter had no interest in joining the military and our youngest was a minor child. But the woman relentlessly persisted to the point at which my wife told them never to call again and hung up.
Imagine the U.S. government telemarketing to recruit more young people to die to cover up their recklessness and malfeasance. Just when I thought our government could sink no lower.
J. Brandeis Sperandeo, Denver
Immigration in Colorado
Re: “Guest worker pitfalls,” July 2 Perspective article.
Guest workers, whose work is hard and often dangerous for little pay, are very expensive imports. From their first day of labor here, guest workers will be a drain on those of us who pay income taxes and property taxes, public school children, and the majority who pay auto and health insurance premiums and payroll taxes. Guest workers will be paying very little, if any, of these taxes and government and employer imposed extra costs on Americans. And that includes forcing more of the middle class into paying for private schools or moving to school districts that are still middle- class dominated.
It’s bad enough we have to support our own poor without importing Mexico’s. At least with our own English-speaking poor, chances are they will eventually become real taxpayers. Chances are far less with Mexican immigrants.
We would be far better off paying higher wages and prices as the cost of firmly closing the border, prosecuting scofflaw employers of illegals after fair warning, and stopping all further immigration of those who have little prospect of ever paying their own way.
Raymond J. Rostan, Parker
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Re: “Legislators in dark on immigrant costs,” July 6 news story.
Who cares how much money the state is spending on services for illegal aliens or what it would cost to implement screening procedures to keep them from receiving services? We don’t worry about the costs of enforcing other laws; this should be no different.
I have nothing but respect for the motives of those who risk their lives to come here illegally to provide a better life for their families. The problem is they have no right to be here and their violation of our laws should not be rewarded. If we can stem the tide of those who come here with good intentions, it will greatly enhance our ability to catch the criminals, drug dealers and who knows what else coming across illegally as well.
We need to remove the incentives for people to come here illegally. I would like to see the state stand up to the federal government and refuse all public services to illegals except medical treatment. The illegal-alien problem was caused by decades of incompetence by the federal government regarding border security and immigration policy. It’s absurd that the federal government demands that state and local governments pay for its mistakes.
Steve Larsen, Aurora
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I would like someone to spell out each and every basic service we’re talking about denying to illegal immigrants in our state. Are we talking immunizations for children? Health clinic services? Head Start?
We aren’t asking adults with severe disabilities to cover the cost of all the millions of dollars in state services they use every year, nor the elderly to cover the state costs of their Medicare services.
Basic services are just that – basic. Necessary for the basic health, survival and well-being of all community members. We shouldn’t be denying these services to anyone in our state.
It is time we start remembering we are talking about families and people who live, work, breathe and love, just like the rest of us – part of our community.
Gwyneth Carsten, Denver
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So I wonder if, when the white man was coming to what we now call the United States, the Native American indigenous people and Southwest peoples and all those here already called a special session on what to do about the “illegal immigrants.” How much money was spent on those sessions?
Colleen Ostlund, Boulder
Columbine killers’ videos
I have seen the “basement tapes” made by the killers from Columbine. They are videos by stupid teenagers acting cool and pretending to have great bravado. These tapes show them to be two lost and confused boys about to commit a terrible crime. They talk and drink. They hide in the basement, afraid of waking up their parents.
The movie “The Deer Hunter” is violent and portrays a behavior that none of us would ever want to see our children or friends involved in, and it was on TV recently. The movie “Pulp Fiction” is violent and disturbing. There are video games with killing, violence, rapes and death. There are books about the same subjects. There are so many violent sites on the Internet that we all have to be careful not to access them by accident.
These are all fiction. They have no saving grace. They exist in our world, are suffered by many, and have no real value. We allow them to exist because to restrict them or prohibit them would restrict our freedoms. We allow these things into our world and they are fictional. They are not real.
The basement tapes, however, are real. They exist in reality. They hold real and valuable lessons for parents, teachers, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, policemen, students and others. The reality, the insights and the truths they can teach us about these two killers are invaluable. They will teach us why and how and they will teach us how to stop this from ever happening again.
These tapes and records are not the danger; they are instead the answers. Yet we allow the Jefferson County sheriff to keep them from us because he says they are too violent.
I have seen these tapes. They are not the danger. The danger is in allowing this sheriff to get away with hiding the truth. The disillusionment and distrust that will result from this continued cover-up is far more damaging than these tapes and secret records.
We have already taught our children that the level of violence in this world is acceptable. Now we are about to teach them that cover-ups and a true lack of integrity are acceptable in our elected officials.
Our children know better; why doesn’t our sheriff?
Randy Brown, Littleton
The writer is the father of former Columbine student Brooks Brown, and has been active in calling for the release of records related to the Columbine shootings.
TO THE POINT
I read with interest your article, “For some, a working 4th.” Let’s not forget hospital staff who work all major holidays and forgo time with family and friends to take care of the sick. Hospitals are a 24/7 operation, regardless of what day it is.
Sharon Prager, Westminster
The Gates/Buffett union is to be praised. One thing that Bill Gates should do is put some of the money into a program to develop methods for nailing identity thieves and Internet crooks. There has to be a way to get the scumbags behind bars.
Frederick C. Sage, Boulder
To all the smokers whining about the smoking ban: It will probably kill you to keep smoking, but it sure won’t kill you to hold off on smoking for a few hours in a restaurant. If you’re that addicted, you’d darn well better face up to your problem.
Aviva Rothschild, Aurora
Lame-duck Gov. Bill Owens wants his anti-immigrant policies enshrined in Colorado’s constitution. The only Owens legacy that belongs in the Constitution is an amendment forbidding him from running for another public office.
David Hakala, Denver
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