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Letters Various Let women, not politicians, decide health matters I am writing this letter to encourage everyone to call, write or email Governor Granholm to encourage her to veto Senate Bill 395, the so-called �

Letters Various The Worst?

I say “hurrah for Dubyu.“ (re: “The Worst?“ Random Thoughts, 10/2). He may be the worst president we have had ever, but he has surely woke the world to the horrors of corporate global imperialism.

Letters Various Chairman Mao‘s tactics

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld naively thought that our invasion of Iraq would be welcomed by the oppressed people yearning to be free of Saddam Hussein. Don‘t the instructors at West Point know the obvious tactic for a country facing invasion by an overwhelming force? Surrender immediately to save the lives of the defenders, wait for the occupation, and then kill the invaders one by one. Anyone who has read the military tactics of Chairman Mao or fought in Vietnam against a citizen army knows how it works. It‘s the same tactic the Michigan Militia will use if American martial law threatens to take away our guns. Rumsfeld seems to have believed the spin doctors‘ fantasies.

Letters Various Are we better off now than at 9/11/01?

First I mark terrible loss of life on that day as all compassionate humans
do. Second I mark the terrible failure of American leadership that followed and
continues to this day.

Letters Various The 10 Commandments

Recently Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court has been in
trouble with the law because of a stone monument he has installed in a court
house. He has been ordered to remove the Decalogue because nothing in the
United States Constitution gives him the right to display it.

Letters Various The law in Petoskey

I dearly hope everyone who is honoring me by reading this expository letter is aware of an incident that occurred at Northern Michigan Hospital on July 29 between a Traverse City Record-Eagle reporter named Keith Matheny and Petoskey Public Safety Director Michael Vargo.

Letters Various Lost hikers

I was surprised by your July 31, 2003 response to Gerry Harsch’s point-by-point correction of the MLUI‘s position on the Hartman-Hammond Connection project. You state hundreds of residents who‘ve walked along the river found the proposed bridge 0.5 mile south of South Airport Road. A mile is 5,280’ whether you walk or drive. If you trust your vehicle’s odometer, check the distance next time you cross South Airport Road on Cass Road when you get to Hartman Road. If you travel LaFranier or Garfield Road, check the distance to Hammond Road. If it’s not showing 1.25 miles, you had better get the odometer fixed because all the land surveys show the distance to be 6,600 feet, not 2,600 feet. I would say you and Thayer are about a mile off on your “facts“.

Letters Various State held hostage by new DUI law

I think that we should all think long and hard about the decision of our legislature and Gov. Granholm to change Michigan‘s drunk driving laws. The press releases and spokespeople tout it as a win-win idea. We will save lives and $11.5 million with the stroke of Granholm‘s pen, they say. Maybe I‘m just stupid or something but I don‘t get it.

Letters Various Saying yes to guns

Advocates of the right to keep and bear arms have modest reason to celebrate these days. The state of Alaska recently became the second state, after Vermont, to allow citizens to carry concealed firearms without a permit or any of the restrictive measures, such as fingerprinting or background checks, that often accompany the permit-application process.

Letters Various The water trial

We recently participated and observed the 19 days of testimony by property owners and several experts from around the US. This was billed by many as David vs. Goliath, since it pitted a newly formed organization of property owners and concerned citizens against the largest water bottler in the world.

Letters Various Did Bush lie?

In January 2003 during his State of the Union address, President George W Bush told the nation and the world that Saddam Hussein‘s Iraq had tried to purchase massive amounts of nuclear materials from “an African nation.“ This was key evidence for Bush‘s dramatic claim that Iraq posed “an imminent threat“ to the United States, Iraq‘s neighbors and the world, therefore, we could not afford to wait another few months for the UN inspectors to complete their work.

Letters Various Bike was stolen

You all can laugh at me (like it isn‘t no big deal), but my bike got stolen tonight. It was a metallic orange, black pinstriped cruiser, designed by Von Frank.

Letters Various The No-Nuke Nuns

While the world awaits and doubts the much ballyhooed evidence of Iraq‘s Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Northern Express reports that two Traverse related Catholic Sisters, Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte opened up one Weapon of Mass Destruction in Colorado. (“Harsh Justice,“NE 6/19).

Letters Various Tax cut hazards

Re: the tax cut debate in a letter by Steven Yenshaw in the June 19 - 25 issue. I disagree, mostly with the last paragraph. More money in the hands
of taxpayers has not always worked, and many times it has been
detrimental. Kennedy‘s tax cut contributed to the increase in inflation
during the ‘70s and Reagan‘s tax cut increased the deficit, way out of
proportion because he didn‘t veto the spending bills. It also
contributed to the the stock market crash of 2000. There are many more
examples.

Letters Various Our soiled flag in Charlevoix

Who knows why, but Charlevoix, an otherwise pleasantly laid-back waterside village has lately bloomed into a belligerently nationalistic town, its main street bristling with American flags. Moreover, lest there be any doubt of the village‘s seething chauvinism, nearly all businesses are festooned with one and often two additional flags, their hems embroidered with the slogan, “Proud to be American.“