Is the arrival of a basketball player really news?
Re: “Superstar guard Iverson heads west as trade leaves Nuggets with NBA’s two top scorers,” Dec. 20 news story.
Like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., I have a dream. Dr. King wanted the world to be a place where all people were treated fairly. I dream of a world in which people pay attention to what is important, and put in proper perspective those things that are not important.
The Denver Post wants us to believe that Allen Iverson joining the local professional basketball team is an event worthy of front-page coverage. In my dream world, such coverage would be given to a promising medical researcher who joins a Denver hospital; to an experienced, capable teacher who signs on with a local university; to a proven organizer and fundraiser who moves to town and commits his or her efforts to benefit local charities; and so on.
Until we start giving significant recognition to the people who really count, we will continue to grow more basketball players and other athletes, more entertainers, and in general more people who satisfy our need for skin-level pleasures. The collective attention paid to such people is overwhelming, and comes at the expense of a crying need for those whose contributions would benefit us all in truly meaningful ways.
All of us have allowed this misplaced attention on the Allen Iversons (nothing personal) of this world to grow to massive proportions, and it will take the efforts of all of us to redirect our attention to people and subjects truly worthy of our attention. The Denver Post could help lead us in this effort, and in my dream world, The Post would do just that.
Tom Hughes, Golden
The oath of office
I agree with letter-writer Bill Howell (Dec. 12 Open Forum) that U.S. Congressman-elect Keith Ellison should leave his Koran at home. However, I disagree that, from now on, all elected and appointed government officials should be made to take their oath of office on the U.S. Constitution.
Due to the godly wisdom and foresight of our Founding Fathers, theologians and historians confirm that our system of government was actually based on the Old Testament scripture found in Isaiah 33:22, which states: “For the Lord is our Judge ; the Lord is our Lawgiver ; the Lord is our King ; He will save us.” It is on the principles found in the Bible which many of our laws are based.
Therefore, I believe the Holy Bible should continue to be the book on which all officials take their oath of office; and in doing so, they are swearing to uphold the Constitution and affirming the First Amendment, in particular, that our nation guarantees all Americans of all faiths (or no faith at all) the right to worship in freedom and without fear for their safety.
Lois Ryan Fitch, Lakewood
Response to columnist s comments on ADM
Re: “For deported Swift worker, agony over family in U.S.,” Dec. 19 Cindy Rodríguez column.
In light of the multiple errors that appeared about Archer Daniels Midland Company in Cindy Rodríguez’s column, I would like to set the record straight about ADM and our role in the global agricultural economy.
First, ADM is not engaged in the purchase of Mexican farmland. ADM is not a farming organization; instead, we are an agricultural processor. This means we buy crops that farmers raise and process them into food, animal feed and renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. Therefore, we are the customer of farmers, connecting them to markets for their crops around the world.
As such, we do not plant crops on lands bought from Mexican peasantry, as Rodríguez alleges. Likewise, we do not set the prices that local farmers are paid for their crops, which she alleges we do in order to force Mexican farmers to sell their farmland.
Further, ADM operates limited facilities in Mexico – three processing plants, a port elevator facility, and a sales office – and is a relatively small player in the Mexican agricultural economy.
Finally, if ADM’s operations have any effect on the price of corn, it is through increasing demand. With ADM’s development of products like corn-based ethanol and high-fructose corn syrup, the demand for corn has grown significantly over the past three decades.
Brian Peterson, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Archer Daniels Midland, Decatur, Ill.
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