Letters To The Editor
FIREARMS
Guns in England: Here are the facts
As a visitor from England may I correct some comments in the Aug. 8 Spokesman-Review?
Firearms are strictly controlled in England. Before you can get a shotgun license you are interviewed by the police, in your home and they can grant or reject your application without giving a reason. The police also revisit your home when you have purchased any weapons to ensure that you’ve complied with their safety and security regulations on weapons storage.
Unfortunately, no system is infallible. Self-loading “assault rifles” were banned after the Hungerford disaster some years ago when a lone gunman killed several people. Handguns were recalled and banned after the killing of a class of 7-year-old children and their teacher in Scotland - all deplorable events which, thankfully, are very rare.
Britons’ use of guns to protect their property isn’t an option because of the legal term “use of reasonable force” when resisting intruders. A recent case in which a 70-year-old farmer living alone shot and killed a burglar after his home had been repeatedly broken into and robbed has resulted in him being convicted of murder and receiving a life sentence.
Recent shootings in London have been attributed to so-called “Yardie” gangs from the Caribbean fighting over drug territory and should not be seen as a general breakdown of law and order. The view of most British people on U.S. gun laws is that with such widespread ownership and availability of guns, relatively trivial disputes can escalate into something much more serious. David G. Davies Tamworth, England
ENTERTAINMENT
Patriotic musical shined for us
I read Jim Kershner’s review of “Our Shining Hour,” and, as usual, it was a very thorough and analytical critique. In spite of the negatives expressed in the review, the audience gave one of the most enthusiastic standing ovations I have witnessed at the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater. It appears that good, old-fashioned American patriotism so effectively and creatively presented still has powerful appeal.
Our two granddaughters learned a great deal about the military and home front during World War II from this “too long and too historic” musical. But in spite of its length it was short compared to the three years their grandfather gave to our country during World War II. Mary C. Bronson Spokane
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Democrats prefer Hollywood lowlifes
The Democrats and their current darlings, Clinton, Clinton and Gore, heap damnation on George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and the Republican Party for raising millions of dollars from corporate America.
They in turn are holding their gala celebration in Los Angeles, bathing themselves in the subculture of Hollywood’s elite. For a donation of $500,000 to the Democratic campaign you can party with Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas. You will be able to rub shoulders with homosexuals, abortionists, cocaine snorters and the like. People who have maids, nannies, chauffeurs and gofers. These people, including their beloved candidates, do not even comprehend that their curse words, “corporate America,” happen to be what built all the ships and planes and bombs to keep this nation free from slavery under Japan and Germany, and yet today they are the ones providing jobs and writing paychecks that keep this nation strong and free, pay the taxes to build our military, take care of welfare and fly to the stars.
While Clinton-Gore and company bask in the adulation of pig heaven, America’s subculture. Lloyd K. and Kathleen S. Brauner Spokane
Gore’s borrowed reputation worthless
Isn’t it pathetic? We see a man running for the office of president of the United States of America who has an almost eight-year record as vice president, and many more years in the Senate, who must use the moral and ethical reputation of his running mate to shore up his own shabby performance.
Wouldn’t it have been easier to believe his shining moral claims if he had not “forgotten” where he was when he made campaign calls from the White House or if he had just said no when asked to attend an illegal fundraising event at a Buddhist monastery? Wouldn’t it have been easier to believe his claim of “moral champion” if he would have condemned the conduct of President Clinton at the time the facts were released, just like his running mate did?
Vice President Al Gore represents all we dislike in politicians. He says what his pollsters tell him we want to hear and then does what is politically expedient. We must examine what Gore has done to us to get a true picture of what he will do to us if he wins this contest. I don’t think we need a man as our president who must borrow others’ reputations to detract from his own behavior.
Isn’t it pathetic to see such a weak and scary attempt by a person who wants to be the most powerful man in the world? Richard M. Munson Spokane
THE ENVIRONMENT
Warming ills everyone’s concern
Kudos to Margaret Koivula for her letter of Aug. 3, “Stop fiddling, time’s running out.”
Reality is often unpleasant but the long-term consequences are worse if problems are not dealt with when they are first understood. A dominant root cause of Koivula’s litany of catastrophes is global warming. Human production of huge quantities of greenhouse gases is responsible for the increase in heat waves, droughts, floods, fires, severe storms, an increase in global temperatures and the melting of ice in polar regions, Greenland and glaciers worldwide.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1995 pessimistic report, prepared by over 2,000 climatologists from over 80 countries, has been validated by their draft reassessment, written after five more years of data and analysis. Their draft report is now under peer review.
Their draft conclusion is that the global climate will continue to get worse. Why? The production of greenhouse gases continues to increase as though there is no problem. As long as the world leader - with just 4.5 percent of the world’s population - produces about 25 percent of global greenhouse gases, no action by any other country will have a measurable effect.
You can have an impact by raising this issue with political candidates and by reducing your use of fossil fuels. Margaret Mead, paraphrased, said: Never doubt that small groups of dedicated individuals can change the world, indeed, that is the only way change has ever been accomplished. Julian Powers Spokane
Native grasses help fend off fires
In light of all the fires in the area now, and the recent Hanford Reach wildfire that burned 192,000 acres, some restoration will have to take place. By replanting with native grasses, this could greatly decrease the destruction caused by such fires in the future.
Cheat grass that has been left to grow in abundance in these areas matures and ripens much earlier than native grasses and is already dry and ready to burn when the heat of the summer begins. Native grasses mature more slowly, remain green longer and do not burn nearly as hot and fast as cheat grass.
In regards to rehabilitation, the burned areas should be re-seeded in the fall to speed the recovery, stabilize the soil and decrease the potential for invasion of exotic annuals (i.e. cheat grass) and noxious weeds. Re-seeding objectives would be to bring the burned areas back into a productive natural vegetative state.
If the Bureau of Land Management, NRCS and U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife would follow these practices, destruction by wildfires could dramatically be reduced through prudent planting of native grasses. Linda Schell Marlin, Wash.
PEOPLE AND ANIMALS
Don’t be so quick to judge horses
I suggest that (letter writer) Hartley do some research on the Nez Perce horse before pointing fingers and crying neglect or abuse.
The Nez Perce horse is a cross of the Appaloosa and the Turkoman horse, the Akhal-Teke. The Akhal-Teke is a desert horse and is long, lean and wiry, with no extra fat. The article mentions the “lean Central Asian war horse.” Photos of the horse make it look emaciated compared to a quarter hose or some of the meatier animals.
We raise the old-time Appaloosa and some of our bloodlines will be lean and wiry until they’ve reached maturity at around five years of age, and that is with access to pasture or hay/grain to eat at will. On the other hand, we also have to watch some of the Appaloosas for obesity and founder because they are extremely easy keepers.
Some of our mares will lose more than 200 pounds when nursing their foals; some won’t lose any weight. It all depends on the animal and the bloodlines.
I would not pass judgment on the Nez Perce and their horses until I saw the conditions that the horses are living in. Not all horses look like the bulldog quarter horse, and for that I am thankful. Jeannie Maki Colville, Wash.