Tuesday, June 5, 2001 Sun Herald --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Letters: "On the environmental front, plans are under way to reduce the amount of arsenic in oil." /THE (NEW JERSEY) RECORD -------------------------------------- Why must we pay for California's foolishness? The California energy situation is not only dangerous, but senseless. I am reminded of a story following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. A lady stock owner was incensed over the news coming out about the oil company's attitude. It was cruel, it was heartless, it did not show enough remorse to suit her. So, she took to the floor at a meeting and finally got the chairman's attention. She voiced her outrage and, in her intense anger, she announced that if the company did not do something immediately, she was going to quit buying Exxon, and begin buying her gasoline from Wal-Mart! I guess she must have moved to California. Early on this year, I was encouraged to read "Atlas Shrugged," and a more prophetic story I have not read. While I was never a fan of Ayn Ryan, she sure knew her left coast. And, we need a John Gault mighty bad. I simply cannot feel sympathy for people who express stronger love for a snail than a human. If one has owned and/or managed a farm or ranch, one has a better understanding for animals and nature than they are given credit for. During the past eight years, we learned who was for sale, and usually at what cost. It was a sorry spectacle, and one I did not enjoy. Only a few years ago, I would have said it would not have been possible, but now, I don't know. It looks like anything is OK with some people, and no one cares or worries about the damage done. I would not do business with an insurance agent who acted like this, nor a banker, nor a druggist, in fact I do not think I would ever do business with such a person. And, I am not sure I would like to live where it is or could be done. Nor, would I like to pay for someone's fiddling around, getting in a mess, and then asking for help to clean up his mess. BILL BRADLEY Gulfport -------------------------------------- You can't win a medal without running the race After more than a decade of staunch environmentalism - during which Californians hugged their trees; refused to build those nasty, environment-destroying, energy-producing dams; demonstrated against the building of fossil-fueled plants; and chastised their neighbor states for allowing poisonous emissions to pollute their pristine countryside - Californians are suddenly begging these same polluting neighbor states to provide them with some of those tainted energy resources, the production of which they so adamantly have opposed. Obviously, Californians have had a change of heart and are ready to now make concessions to neighboring states, to wit, "Keep the polluting industries - send us only the clean energy!" ARMOND 'SI' SIMMONS Pell City, Ala. -------------------------------------- Far too many of these toothy, aquatic rodents Sharks have inhabited the Earth somewhere between 350 million and 400 million years longer than humans, yet someone feels obligated to regulate the harvest of these gray, toothy, aquatic rodents. All published research on shark population can be best described as inconclusive and vague, with more holes in it than a sieve. Having fished the barrier islands since I was 15 years old, I now have over 20 years of data to support my findings that there are entirely too many sharks out there. Unlike every other species of marine life, sharks have no natural enemy except man, and seem to have proliferated out of control, with the population to be kept in check by me, and only me. If I so much as think about buying live bait, every shark within a 100-mile radius gears up to cut it in half, or at least mangle it beyond usefulness, before any real fish can get to it. I fully expect one day soon I will discover jagged radii cut into the new block of cheddar stored in the vegetable crisper compartment of my Frigidaire. Maybe they should count sharks, they way they did the bull reds a couple of years ago. That would thin 'em out a thousand or so at a time. The next thing they'll want to do is protect cockroaches and ferns. BRODIE RAY Gulfport -------------------------------------- If nuclear is so safe, build plants in Texas So Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney say there is no "quick fix" to the energy problem. Of course, Mr. Bush could put price caps into effect. but in his opinion that would be bringing "big government" into play in areas where it doesn't belong. According to Mr. Bush, "big government" (the Supreme Court) was not overstepping its bounds when it was time to "settle" the presidential election, which was a decision sovereign to each state, but, then, convenience in the hands of the beholder always seems to have greater accommodation for "the beholder." And so Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney (the latter in particular, always on the cutting edge of any potential profiteering prospects on the horizon) say that it's time to dredge up nuclear power as en alternate source of energy. Never mind the fact that it's dangerous. And never mind the fact that, as I write this, the folks in the Yucca Mountain, Nev., area, where the vice president would dump the "garbage" from this debacle, have screamed loudly in protest and prohibited them from dumping it there. If it's such a "safe" means of providing energy and there's no danger from its radioactive refuse, then why do they feel the need to find some remote wasteland in which to bury the garbage and, more importantly, why will there be no nuclear power plants built in Dallas or Jackson Hole (or wherever the veep calls home these days) and why won't any of the radioactive cores be buried anywhere near Crawford, Texas? And, in closing, now it's Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle - hopefully for a while! CHUCK WEATHERSBY Waveland robjefdad@earthlink.net -------------------------------------- Feet of clay preferable to head of Silly Putty Ole Harry Truman had his problems with his bourbon, and said a few things he probably rued. Lyndon Johnson involved us in a scrimmage with the Viet Cong, who the French and others had tried to conquer, but failed, as we did. Gerald Ford was said to suffer the consequences of playing too much football without his helmet. We all remember Dick Nixon's famous statement: "I am not a crook!" Nuff said about the antics of our recently retired president, old "Billy Jeff." Now we have George "Dubya," who I'm beginning to believe doesn't have a clue. I voted for the man, but I swear, I keep looking for the wind-up key in his back when he turns around. I've been a Republican all my life, but ... WILLIAM NEFF Diamondhead -------------------------------------- Mississippi has a gem in Edna Waller Edna Waller, two-time winner of the Christa McAuliffe education award, is a jewel who should have adorned the front page in lieu of the motorcyclists ("Top teacher shares the wealth," May 26). What an inspiration to educators, to students, and to all who care about the education of Mississippians! I, for one, salute you Edna Waller! Thank God for your generosity of self and for sharing your rewards! BETTY WILKINS Biloxi