Free Republic

Letter to the Editor: Regarding the Aug, 28 Politics & The Nation article “Backers hope nation’s first offshore wind farm will jump-start an industry”: As a retired engineer, I find it hard to justify wind farms from an economic, aesthetic or environmental perspective. The article stated that a five-turbine, 30-megawatt project off Rhode Island will provide enough energy for about 17,000 homes. What is the cost for backup power generation when there is little or no wind? What about the limited lifetime of the turbines (20 years estimated, but a British study found that 12 to 15 years is more...

Last Wednesday, a small EPA-supervised work crew inspecting the Gold King mine accidentally knocked a hole in a waste pit, releasing at least three million gallons of acidic liquid laden with toxic heavy metals. (ABC) This letter to editor, posted below, was published in The Silverton Standard and The Miner local newspaper, authored by a retired geologist, one week before EPA mine spill. The letter detailed verbatim, how EPA officials would foul up the Animas River on purpose in order to secure superfund money. It the Gold King mine was declared a superfund site it would essentially kill future development...

A week before The EPA disastrously leaked millions of gallons of toxic waste into The Animas River in Colorado, this letter to the editor was published in The Silverton Standard & The Miner local newspaper, authored by a retired geologist detailing verbatim, how EPA would foul the Animas River on purpose in order to secure superfund money...

Hobbit, you betcha!

I am probably one of the few people in the Panhandle who did not vote for "Pretty Boy" Rick Perry in the past election. I voted for the ex-mayor of Houston, whose name I no longer remember. The only reason I remind you of that is because I want you to know I don't like his politics or anything else about him. I am a Republican, which means "pariah" these days. But I ramble. Gov. Perry vetoed the bill that former House Speaker Tom Craddick (from Midland) introduced to the Legislature. The young lady who died texting in Seagraves got...

Dear Mr. President: During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone. While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of...

I’m not from your state, but I feel we share a common bond, and that is, we are all Americans. We are Americans who face these shameless politicos and their hijinks with a shrug and a “oh well, they all do it” attitude. We have our cross to bear in North Caroline and it will be rectified – term limits are a partial answer, but constantly reminding the effete political class they work for us is an equally good idea. If Max Baucus makes decisions based on his gonads regarding his live-in girl at the Pied Noir, imagine what he...

President Barack Obama is on a path to becoming the greatest con man in history. He conned the Nobel Committee into awarding him the Peace Prize, even as he continues military occupations and escalates and expands his wars. He conned many peace advocates into voting for him, but now he continues President George W. Bush's military policies. He conned many environmental activists into voting for him, but now his administration promotes nuclear power, persecutes endangered species such as wolves, and promotes an ineffectual, loophole-filled "cap and trade" carbon scheme. He conned many health reform advocates into voting for him, but...

Dear Editor: The "health care reform" bill targets the unborn, very sick and senior citizens. Father Pavone of Priests for Life called it FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) in disguise. He also said: "The “health care reform” bills being finalized in Congress will set off a chain reaction that will result in a massive expansion of abortion! That’s because, unless Congress explicitly states that abortion is excluded, it will be regarded as “an essential benefit” for Americans." Senior citizens and the very sick of all ages will be harmed, or die, because of rationing. That's how they intend to save...

Whatever happened to investigative journalism? As a young White House staffer in 1974, I saw it bring down a president. In the past month, our lazy journalistic watchdogs couldn't even sniff out the main story between two would-be governors. Granted, Bill Ritter's victory over Bob Beauprez was so broad and deep that no great difference ultimately resulted from the October storm over plea bargains and leaks. Still, that episode is worth reviewing, not as a rehash of the campaign, but as a case study in media attitudes. You remember the endless stories about a federal agent with the Bureau of...

What the fu&* do you think you're doing? This is London. We've dealt with your sort before. You don't try and pull this on us. Do you have any idea how many times our city has been attacked? Whatever you're trying to do, it's not going to work. All you've done is end some of our lives, and ruin some more. How is that going to help you? You don't get rewarded for this kind of crap. And if, as your MO indicates, you're an al-Qaeda group, then you're out of your tiny minds. Because if this is a message...

The recent incident in Bent Tree, a Sarasota subdivision, shows that the words and policies of President Bush are driving our young people to the brink of insanity. One of the boys who burned American flags was quoted as saying he did it because he hated America. I doubt that he meant he hated Bent Tree. More likely, he hated a country that tortures its prisoners, stubbornly resists efforts to slow global warming and saddles each of our newborn grandchildren with a $150,000 debt to the Chinese. For years, we taught our children that they were lucky to be Americans...

Can we all please just agree to end the cribbed letters to the editor? About 70 times a week we get fake letters, unoriginal, recycled “thoughts” fobbed off as real by some advocacy campaign. Some arrive with the signature “your name here.” Election season brings out the worst, a blizzard of ersatz letters from both major political parties trying to feed the nation's newspapers. How? Their Web sites provide everything a plagiarist could want. Talking points. Letter contacts. Forms. The canned spiels are known in the journalism trade as “AstroTurf” or simply “turf” for their look-like-the-real-deal letter qualities. The election...

JOHN KERRY wants us to believe he can effectively defend America, but based on the way he is struggling to defend his own reputation these days, you have to wonder about his grasp of focus, tactics, and threat analysis. Here's what I'd like to hear him say: "Here we have a president who the whole country knows deliberately avoided service in Vietnam, using his family's connections to get into the National Guard before going AWOL, permitting his surrogates to question whether the enemy fire I was subjected to in combat was thick enough to justify a citation for valor, or...

Americans wouldn’t want to be ‘liberated’ by others Published Wednesday, April 9, 2003 Dear Editor, the Tribune: Imagine that someone becomes the president of the United States and we find out he or she is a terrible president. However, this person gains so much power that he or she cannot be removed from office. Now imagine that a country with a strong military, let’s say Russia, decides to rid the world of our president. Russia ignores the wishes of the United Nations, U.S. citizens and many other countries and invades the United States. It bombs major government and military installations...

Rescue Iraqi People From Evil Dictator (Not my title, by the way, the editors gave me a wimpy title) Published on 2/6/2003 Letters To The Editor: In response to The Day's Jan. 28 article “At Conn, a peaceful debate about war and peace,” I would like to mention a few things The Day “forgot” to mention. These forgotten points make clearer why military action against Iraq is necessary for our security and the safety of Iraq's citizens. The case for Iraq does not revolve solely on the issue of weapons of mass destruction, as most of the media paints it....

One-Term President? This is a little late but wouldn't it be fun if former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (if voting as a Democrat chokes him up as it does me) went back to Congress as a declared Independent? Maybe he could get some friends to go with him. I'll tell you one thing, it would make Bush look at his hole card, and maybe he would have to cash in some chips the next election. He could turn out like his father and be a one-term president. The present situation really turned the tide. There was probably enough against...

<p>Editor -- When it comes to fund raising, the shamelessness of Gov. Gray Davis knows no bounds. He is the very definition of a politician for sale to the highest bidder. He does absolutely nothing -- nothing! -- for people who don't contribute to him, but line his pockets and you've got his ear.</p>

Editor, the Tribune: Mark Haim is a repulsive supporter of anti-American sentiment. This is in response to his March 7 letter. There are reasons to criticize America, but patriots criticize America because they love her, not because they think America has too much power and influence on the world stage. Haim and his disciples criticize America because they want to see America diminish as a leader in world affairs. Haim and his disciples are more comfortable with sharing power with other nations because they don’t see America as "good;" in their view, America is the cause of the world’s problems....