Hearing impaired

Our daughter and grandson came to visit over the Fourth of July. We were all sitting around watching a TV documentary about the humpback whales.

The narrator said that when a humpback has a calf, it will be “two or three years before she breeds again.” My young grandson jumps up and says, “Wow, that sure is a long time to hold your breath!”

Like my grandson, the majority of people in this country are not listening. I have seen this country go from Mayberry to Mad Max.

The honest citizen is treated like a potential criminal. We have surveillance cameras monitoring our every move, devices to verify our checks; clerks use little ink pens to see if our money is counterfeit and law enforcement is starting to take on a military look.

We now live in a world of licenses, permits, inspections, insurance, government restrictions and Code Rangers. Lawyers and contracts have taken the place of a handshake and your word. Contracts cannot replace integrity. 

The government is passing laws to monitor every aspect of our private lives. This makes up for what they were doing before the law went into effect.

We are told, “Global warming will destroy the Earth.” That is pure arrogance on man’s part.

Man can’t destroy the Earth, because God said he would, and he will.

This election year all the politicians are shouting, “Vote for change!”

You are not listening. They are saying, “Vote for chains.”

Dwight Crawford,

Sanger

The peace of slavery

John F. Kennedy clearly stated he did not want the peace of a slave, but neither Bush nor Cheney were listening.

What are we if not slaves? All communication is monitored; citizens can be kidnapped and taken to foreign countries for endless imprisonment and torture. Bank accounts are accessed and the banks are forbidden to inform the account holder.

Is this the “Truth, Justice and the American Way” we were brought up to believe in?

Or is this the slave under the microscope that Hitler envisioned?

Bush has destroyed the America the Founding Fathers fought so hard to create. Call your senators and congressmen and let them know you noticed they helped Bush destroy the America we love. It is time we let them go.

Steven Duran,

Denton

Where is the danger?

The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea­pons Treaty (NPT or NNPT) is to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. There are currently 189 countries party to the treaty, five of which have nuclear weapons: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and the Republic of China.

Only three recognized sovereign states are not parties to the treaty: India, Israel and Pakistan.

The treaty recognizes the inalienable right of sovereign states to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Many countries including the U.S. use nuclear power for generating electricity.

Iran has pursued an interest in doing the same, but the U.S. and Israel believe otherwise even though the U.S. National In­telligence estimate (September 2007) indicated Iran has not pursued a bomb since 2003.

Let’s see where the danger really is. Iran has never attacked a sovereign nation. On the other hand, in 1981, Israel bombed a French-built nuclear plant near Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, saying they believed it was designed to make nuclear weapons.

Last September, Israel bombed a Syrian military facility and claimed the target had been a nuclear facility under construction. By the way, bombing a sovereign nation is usually considered an act of war. In 2002, India and Pakistan almost used nuclear weapons against each other.

It seems to me that rather than an American-supported attack on Iran by Israel, the world might be safer if U.N. sanctions were put on Israel, India and Pakistan to keep them from attacking others, or each other.

Ronald L. Johnson,

Denton

Drilling myths revisited

A recent letter, “Drilling myths” [Letters, June 29], reinforced several issues I have with politics and the oil industry, but was misleading in other ways.

The issue of 68 million unused acres of “drillable” lands: Big Oil knows where the oil is. Just because Uncle Sam makes certain lands available to drill upon doesn’t mean there is oil to be found.

The myth is that nothing we do today will make any difference in the price of gas, so why make the effort? Two issues are at play here.

Why make the effort? With that reasoning, why do anything? Nothing will happen immediately, but you do it because it needs to be done.

Our commitment to expand drilling won’t immediately impact gas prices: Maybe. The oil exporting countries are counting on our inaction. A commitment by America to take positive action will force them to react by producing more oil, thus lowering the price.

Also, regarding speculators in the futures market: Just what type of speculation will there be with our commitment to drill? The speculation will be that “future” oil contracts will have less value, thus driving down the price.

So our commitment to “drill here, drill now” could have a tremendous and quick impact in the market.

The previous letter implies that the Bush/Cheney administration is responsible for the “Enron Loophole” that is correctly recognized as unleashing the speculators.

To clarify, it was Bill Clinton that signed into law that legislation.

Dan Shea,

Denton

Applying the screws

We elect a new mayor and the first thing we get is more wasteful spending. He says we’re not going to raise taxes, but we’re gonna put the screws to you through in­creased fees and charges on your utility rates.

Well, here’s a news flash for our elected (can we unelect them?) leaders. We’re getting crushed by taxes now. Our utility rates are screaming upwards thanks to our utility policies.

We’re having to cut back due to rising fuel costs, food costs, and the costs of everything else.

Cut back! We don’t need more managers. We don’t need more employees. We need less government.

Make a 10 percent cut in the employees as a start, including the excess management at the top. The first thing you do when facing a shortfall is to reduce costs, not try to balance the books on the backs of the people.

Roger Strahan,

Denton