Firings of U.S. attorneys
Re: “Iglesias was fired for being fair,” March 25 Ruben Navarrette column.
Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias thinks it not implausible that he was fired because he was held to a different standard for not being tough enough on Hispanic voter fraud. This is ironic in light of the fact that it was someone with a similar background, Sen. Ken Salazar, who vouched for the integrity of his colleague, the newly appointed attorney general, Alberto Gonzales. If the Republican establishment has reasons of its own for being suspicious of “surging Hispanic political power” from below, those of us who trusted Salazar’s judgment have even more reason to be suspicious of cronyism at the top.
Joel Brence, Aspen
Security failures at DIA
Re: “Test devices make it by DIA security,” March 30 news story.
We spend millions of dollars, get screened, take our shoes off, put up with long lines, throw away perfectly good toothpaste, and TSA catches only 10 percent of simulated dangerous weapons and explosives?
TSA security director Earl Morris “expects screeners to fail” because the tests are difficult. Does he think the terrorists will make it easy? Mr. Morris thinks that the security is already excellent. I wonder what he would think if they actually caught, say, 50 percent of the weapons and fake explosives going through security.
Why are we wasting our time and money on a system that fails us 90 percent of the time?
John Anthony, Westminster
Best resource for kid lit
Re: “Getting a read on kid lit,” March 25 arts and entertainment story.
I found your story on navigating kids’ literature to be lacking. As a librarian and mother, I have a tip for parents who need help finding interesting and challenging books for their children: Go to your public library. Talk to a librarian, and they probably won’t just hand you a bookmark. It’s their job to be knowledgeable about what new (and old) books are out there that may interest your child.
Many librarians specialize in children’s literature. The Denver Public Library even has a kids’ website (kids.denverlibrary.org) that helps children (and parents) find books they might like, has book reviews written by kids, and includes lists of award-winning titles.
The next time you write an article on children’s literature, you may want to look beyond the bookstore and look into the public library. After all, we’re paying for the books with our tax dollars.
Mary Ellen Olson, Denver
Room for improvement
I subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News and get The Denver Post on Sundays. There are two items that I read with interest every Sunday – the “Colorado Votes in Congress” and “Find the Place.” I have a suggestion to improve each of these.
In the “Colorado Votes in Congress,” it would be helpful to have the bill number in each of the descriptions of the vote. This would make it so much easier to search government websites (such as Thomas or the GPO site) to look at the whole bill.
I look forward to looking at the new picture in “Find the Place” to see if I know where and what it is. I enjoy reading about last week’s pictures from other readers. Would it be possible to show a small picture from the previous week? The reader reports usually include the name of the city or where it was, but if I’m not familiar with the picture, I often forget what “it” was.
Cheryl Laudenbach, Denver
Health risks of tattoos
Re: “Tattoo limits hit Marines like forearm,” March 29 news story.
Hopefully, tattoo artists are explaining risk factors to our young Marines prior to creating tattoos. Are these recipients aware that the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be spread through tattoos or body piercings? Tools could have someone else’s blood on them, or the artist or piercer might not follow good health practices. The artist himself can be infected with HCV and although he wears gloves, he could accidently prick himself and continue to use the same needle and/or not change gloves. Around 4.1 million Americans have become infected with HCV, 3.2 million chronically, carrying the virus for the rest of their lives. Resulting liver damage can be serious, leading to cirrhosis and eventual need for a transplant.
Hopefully, these young men who see tattoos as a “rite of passage” are aware of the risks.
Let’s protect these young Marines while they protect us!
Janet Hunsaker, R.N., Arvada
Considering consumers
Re: “Changing climate change,” March 25 Colorado Voices column.
Joel Minor’s column is typical of many environmental enthusiasts’ marketing efforts. Joel’s pitch for a Colorado climate exchange is shortsighted, for it ignores the “consumer” portion of the equation. Joel proposes that if a corporation like Safeway is unable to reduce its greenhouse emissions to a mandatory level, it can buy carbon reduction shares from a Colorado entity such as the city of Boulder that was able to exceed such levels. Joel concludes that a climate exchange would provide a mechanism for cleaner air and give Boulder a way to make money.
But what about the mother of three children who shops at Safeway on a limited budget? In an industry known for tight profit margins when grocers encounter additional costs, such as the purchase of carbon reduction shares, they pass those costs on to the consumer. The climate exchange may aid the family matriarch to breathe cleaner air, but it is also as likely she will be bringing less food home.
Mike Hagan, Greeley
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