“LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ON ABUSE SERIES, COAL PLANT, IKE'S WARNING, ENVY, DEBT, DEER ... - Wichita Eagle” plus 1 more |
| Posted: 20 Dec 2010 10:04 PM PST Series an act of boldness, heroism The series "Promise Not to Tell" (Dec. 12-14 Eagle) was an act of civic responsibility by The Eagle and reporter Roy Wenzl. Thank you, Eagle, for telling this story of violence and its devastating effects. Sexual abuse in all its forms is a public issue, and The Eagle bringing the issue to light for the community will have a salutary effect for many years to come. The series was also an act of boldness on the part of Kathie and Kellie Henderson. Their courage in telling their story is breathtaking. Their willingness to tell their story clearly indicates a heroism that is rare in our day. Heroes overcome fear in order to bring benefit to others. On a lesser order, but none the less impressive, was the courage of Jim and Shelly Vasey, who engaged the violence and acted for justice. They bear witness to Micah's word from God, "Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God." The heroic, pro-social action on the part of the Henderson sisters, the Vaseys and The Eagle are exactly what is necessary to counter violence and pursue things that make for peace in our community. DAVE FULTON Wichita No clean coal The pollution in Kansas is about to get worse with the approval of Sunflower Electric Power Corp.' s coal-fired generating plant (Dec. 17 Eagle). Kansas will get 100 percent of the pollution, and about 90 percent of the electricity will go out of state. There is not one good reason for this plant to be approved. There is no such thing as clean coal. Natural gas is clean-burning, plentiful, high-energy and cheap. MARVIN E. FRANKAMP Wichita Heed Ike Regarding the Dec. 16 Eagle Editorial: Heed Ike indeed! Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 farewell speech contains several prophetic truths. Regarding the "military-industrial complex," he stated: "The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government." The sheer size of our war-driven economy verifies this total influence. More than 58 percent of the 2011 U.S. discretionary budget is allocated to the military. The next closest categories are health and human services (6 percent) and transportation (6 percent). Our politicians are so ensnared in this military-industrial complex that their justifications for war have long since been perverted. The rationalizations for recent conflicts are littered with bad intelligence and outright deception. And, indeed, war even poisons our spiritual consciousness. American Christianity is becoming a civil religion that co-opts Christ for the sake of national military interests. Many professing Christians are more quickly moved to tears by a roaring F-16 than by the cross of Jesus. We would do well to heed Ike's warning as president and general. And we should encourage the efforts of another fellow Kansan and current defense secretary, Robert Gates, to downsize our military and its undue influence. Most important, we must pray to God for His mercy. BRENT THOMPSON Wichita Sin of envy Letters to The Eagle decrying tax cuts for the "wealthy" and corporate profits have pointed out the deadly sin of greed, but no one has bothered to mention another sin — envy, in this case toward the so- called rich. President Obama (by his own standards "wealthy") and his party accused Republicans of blocking reform and jobless benefits, yet Democrats were blocking the continuation of the current tax rates that taxpayers must foot. Need we remind those pointing fingers that the tax cuts affect and benefit everybody from the high- to the low-income earners? Blocking tax relief out of envy hurts those of us in lower brackets. According to the website USDebtClock.org, only 35 percent of the U.S. population now pays income taxes. Some estimates say 47 percent. Must we continue to ask less than half of our country to support public assistance, foreign wars, benefits for illegals, and world aid while not considering cutting spending? No one has marked this situation as unfair so far. There is not just one deadly sin, but seven. So far we've seen two. GARRETT C. JETER Wichita Any difference? I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. I am getting more confused every day about our national debt. Does no one in Washington, D.C., care? I can't tell the difference anymore between the Republicans and the Democrats. Is there a difference anymore? STAN LAWRENCE Wichita Not just killing Deer hunting is not just about the killing of deer ("Why harm deer?" Dec. 17 Letters to the Editor). My family and I consume the deer we hunt, which is healthier to eat than meat you can buy in the store. I have taught my kids to love and respect wildlife. Deer hunters do more to help wildlife conservation than any other group I know. If there were no deer hunters, the deer population would become so large that deer would end up destroying their habitat and many deer would starve to death because of the increased competition for food. I would much rather see a deer killed with a rifle than to see one starve to death because of overpopulation. KEVIN BERNSTORF Haysville   This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Momentum Building Toward a Christmas Miracle for Our 9/11 Heroes - Huffingtonpost.com Posted: 19 Dec 2010 12:12 PM PST On September 11, 2001 and in the days and weeks that followed, thousands of patriotic Americans reported to the site of the World Trade Center to help in whatever way they could. On the day of the attacks, many ran up the buildings as most were running down; some joined the rescue mission at the pile in the days that followed; and still later, people came day in and day out to search for the remains of the fallen. These heroes did not let us down 9 years ago, but on December 9th, the US Senate let them down. Republicans successfully filibustered the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act, which will provide $7.4 billion for health care and monitoring for the heroes and community survivors who've suffered health ailments as a result of breathing in toxic air after the towers fell. Unfortunately, taking care of these heroes got caught up in political wrangling over tax cuts and spending bills and we were unable to gain the Republican votes to break the logjam. But now I'm happy to report that momentum is building and it's my hope that we'll be able to deliver a Christmas miracle for our 9/11 heroes. The media is more interested in this bill than they've ever been before, thanks in large part to Jon Stewart's devoting an entire episode of The Daily Show to the bill last week. If you haven't yet, you must see his interview with several of the 9/11 first responders, who are ill and need care. I was thrilled that Jon put Governor Mike Huckabee on the spot and secured his support for the bill, which followed on the heels of Mayor Rudy Giuliani's endorsement of the legislation. Bipartisan support for the bill is growing by the day. The bill has since been covered on ABC Nightly News and has gotten some excellent coverage on Fox News. I appeared on Fox the other day to discuss my efforts to pass this bill and then was very moved to see Shepard Smith express his own deep frustration with our inability to deliver health care for these heroes. As Shepard said:
Jon Stewart and Shepard Smith are absolutely right. We have a moral obligation to these men and women who risked their lives to help the victims on 9/11 and we must not fail them. I'm grateful that Senator Reid has indicated he is open to holding another vote on the bill next week and if we can get that vote, I hope enough Republicans will join us to overcome the filibuster so we can deliver a Christmas miracle for the heroes. Due to the tireless effort of so many first responders and survivors, after nine long years we are close to fulfilling our duty to the 9/11 heroes, but we still have a lot of work to do. I urge my Republican colleagues to end the filibuster, engage in an open and respectful debate, and let each senator decide for themselves whether the heroes and victims of September 11th deserve quality health treatment and appropriate compensation for their tremendous loss and sacrifice. Please keep the pressure on by calling your Senator at (202) 224-3121 and asking them to support The James Zadroga Health & Compensation Act. Thank you!
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