Letters

Mercury changes save time--in a bad way

I read your rather lame excuses for booting most of your former columnists, and I'm still perplexed why you think this was a wise decision [Editor's Note, Jan. 6]. You imply that your readers just don't have the time to read good journalism, but have all the time in the world to devote to such pointless drivel as Girls Gone Wild. You have certainly saved me time; after reading the columns by Michael Green and Knappster, I threw your rag in the garbage. What ever happened to "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?

--Patricia Ducharme,

Henderson

City's code of silence hampers Centennial efforts

A problem with celebrating Las Vegas' Centennial is inherent in the popularity of the slogan, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" ["Welcome to the Centennial," Jan. 6]. A good chunk of Vegas history is something like a hooker's list of johns. If the list weren't mostly kept secret, the list would be short. Part of the reason Vegas has had so spectacular a history has been the collective capacity of Vegas' citizens to keep secrets. As a mechanical challenge, how do we commemorate an achievement that is marked by the absence of documentation? Perhaps we could mount a plaque somewhere with that mythical little black book securely bronzed inside it, over a bronzed text that reads, "What sex industry?"

--Anthony Bondi

U.S. stingy with tsunami aid, its own citizens

Yes, in spite of what you hear on talk radio, the United States is stingy with humanitarian aid in general and with its $15 million initial response to the tsunami disaster in particular, but it's no stingier than the way our government treats its own people. The $15 million initial offer for the tsunami disaster was not only small, but even the $350 million figure represents only a small percentage of our federal budget as compared with other countries. In 2002 the United States reached its low point since WWII in humanitarian and developmental aid spending at 1 percent. Our country now spends about one-quarter of 1 percent. Of the 22 richest countries in the world, the United States gives the least, not only in percentage of budget but often in dollars given. This may be a blessing as aid is often given as loans to be repaid by the poor country by cutting its social program budgets.

This does not mean Americans are stingy. We may end by contributing more through charities for aid to tsunami victims than does our government through our tax money. Yet American taxpayers should share the world's anger with our government's stinginess. Our new tax "relief" programs have done the same to our citizens. Our graduated tax system is being flattened and the estate tax has been removed, placing a larger share of the burden on the middle and lower classes, all of which helps to eliminate upward mobility. For this we get deficit spending on an obscene military budget, a unilateral war in Iraq and corporate welfare. One can hardly expect our government to be compassionate with the rest of the world when our own tax dollars are not directed to provide health care or Social Security support for our own people.

--Jerry Bitts

Drug prohibition is cause of crime

Professor Shelden's comments were accurate and this reader appreciates you have the courage to print them ["Expensive Drug War Still Not Working," Dec. 30]. As a retired police officer, my feeling is the only area he left blank was the reduction in public safety caused by drug prohibition. As my colleagues chase marijuana, DUIs killed 17,000 innocents every year. Year after year, about 75 percent of felony crime is caused by drug prohibition (not the use of drugs). Will we ever be as wise as our grandparents and end drug prohibition?

--Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired),

Media Director,

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition,

Dallas, Texas

Treat drug use as a public health problem

Randall G. Shelden's Dec. 30 op-ed was right on target. If harsh penalties served to deter illegal drug use, the elusive goal of a "drug-free" America would have been achieved decades ago. Instead of adding to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world, we should be funding cost-effective drug treatment. Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug war spending. It's time to end this madness and instead treat all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is. It's worth noting that tobacco use has declined considerably in recent years. Public education efforts are paying off. Apparently mandatory minimum sentences, civil asset forfeiture, random drug testing and racial profiling are not necessarily the most cost-effective means of discouraging unhealthy choices.

--Robert Sharpe, MPA,

Policy analyst,

Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C.