News-Record.com

The article in the May 26 Life section, “Obesity,” is too P.C. for me. The problem starts with the parents of these fat kids.

Yes, I said “fat.” P.C. needs to go out the window on this subject. A little insult is warranted, followed by love. I quote from the article: “Patterns of eating and activity, often set during early childhood, are influenced by government, education policies, cultural factors and environmental changes.” No mention about parents.

Parents need to set the example. I’m not saying that you should start training for the next “Ironman” competition. Go for a walk this evening instead of sitting down and watching TV.
For some parents, this may not be that simple. Most likely, both parents are working in today’s world just to make ends meet. This is where the school system can help.

We need a physical training requirement modeled after the military. Use the Marine PT test as a model. My PT test at the time I served included pull-ups, sit-ups and a three-mile run.

We love to blame everything or everyone else for our problems. Enough is enough.

Carl Peltzer
Colfax

Thank you for making public the truth on the state of our economy in North Carolina and as it compares to our neighbors (“7 myths of North Carolina’s economy” by Brian Balfour, Ideas, May 25).

Folks, this is an election year, and if this isn’t enough to vote out the party and those legislatures responsible for this condition, then what will it take? Taxpayers can’t stand any more of this type of administration and especially those running for office whom Mike Easley is endorsing.

Charles O’Brien
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint

By Al Mankoff

In a city fortunate enough to have matured from Quaker roots, it’s a pity to see the state of racial relationships with the likes of Billy Yow and Charles Davenport Jr.

Davenport’s “opinion” (read diatribe) of May 25 was a deplorable example of just the kind of rhetoric this country does not need in the crucial months that lie ahead. If this is a portent of what’s to come, we are, indeed, in dire straits both as a community and as a nation.

In the early George Wallace era, it was “barefoot and pregnant”; today, it’s “dissing” — not just women, but black women, with the prime target being Michelle Obama. She’s sassy and she’s uppity, and she is, above all, honest in speaking her mind and thoughts — such a refreshing change from plastic Pat Nixon, smarmy, “Just say no” Nancy Reagan and the sugary Laura Bush.

The myopic rightists — as in “The Night of the Living Dead” — are staggering out from their sodden pits, relentlessly pressing their mindless message of hate and divisiveness on yet another generation of gullible innocents.

For the record, I call this right-wing, largely Republican assault on black women “Mammy Myopia.” It is obviously a swift-boating maneuver — but this time, let’s hope that the majority of Americans see it for what it is, a deliberate attempt to slander a woman of grace and beauty, destined for greatness, orchestrated from the same Stygian depths that gave us Watergate, Iran-Contra and “Mission accomplished.”

The writer lives in High Point.

The N.C. General Assembly is trying to get a moratorium passed on cities annexing properties without being able to provide the services as they are annexed.

In the May 23 News & Record, it was said the soon-to-be-annexed areas would not have proper fire and police protection until well after we are annexed.

This is what the General Assembly is trying to stop, but I will bet you Greensboro will not do the right thing and not annex us until we have the proper protection in place. They are too greedy for that. And, to all the annexed homeowners, watch your back because the city will not be able to do it until October or November.

Stan Champion
Greensboro

I would like to second Sandy Bundgaard’s letter (May 21) regarding Sen. Dole’s poor constituent service. I, too, have e-mailed concerns a number of times to both Sen. Dole and Sen. Burr. I receive a timely — and often detailed — response from Sen. Burr that is specific to the issue I raised. I have received only two letters from Sen. Dole, both of which were generic “thanks for your input” form letters.

In contrast, Kay Hagan and Maggie Jeffus both send me weekly e-mail updates on what’s happening in the N.C. General Assembly. I am confident that Kay Hagan’s constituent service will continue when she represents North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.

Please, let us elect a senator who actually cares about the people of North Carolina!

Libby Haile
Greensboro

To keep Greensboro a great place to live, we need to address a problem: Gangs are a growing threat to this community. Mayor Johnson believes that the emphasis should be on prevention instead of punishment. I disagree.

We need to hit the problem at both ends, especially here in Greensboro. Prevention is a great start, but we need to have a plan for the gangs already at large. The place to start is the Greensboro Police Department.

Our Police Department is facing difficult times and it is now time to cut the waste, improve efficiency and hire more officers for the entire city. The Police Department needs to make a decision about officers who have been on paid leave for an extended amount of time. We should, as the saying goes, “use them or lose them.”

The Gang Unit should not be used as a negotiating point in the city budget. The ability to hire and fire in the Police Department should not be the job of the city manager. It should be up to the City Council or the Police Department itself. However, I admit that I do not have any law-enforcement experience, but neither does Mitch Johnson.

Teresa Jobe
Greensboro

It was with a great sense of pride and honor that I watched the Memorial Day Concert on UNC-TV on Sunday.

However, I was a bit frustrated at being left out of the honors parade. You see, we have no flag, no chief of staff, no uniform and no commander. We were all volunteers. We are the Merchant Marine. When you needed something, we brought it — gas, food, ammunition, spare parts, equipment, people and supplies.

We are the silent heroes with more than 8,000 ships sunk beneath us and the loss of more than 180,000 lives. Is it not time to include us in the parade?

David R. Best
Greensboro

To make up for wasteful spending, the city of Eden wants to annex and extend Eden’s territorial jurisdiction to other parts of the county surrounding the city.

Eden needs money bad. Eden City Council will use the extended extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) as a base for the next part of annexation. This new ETJ is the first step of the annexation process.

If the city of Eden needs more money, it should raise the Eden city property taxes to an amount needed. It has already raised fees, permits and the water/sewer rates, but that is not enough. It wants more so it can spend more.

The people who are in the proposed ETJ areas do not want to be under Eden’s control. If we wanted to live in the city, we would have bought our homes in the city. We want to be left alone in the county.

I own property in the city limits of Eden but I live in the county and that is where I want to stay. Everyone affected by this extended ETJ should be at the commissioners’ meeting in Wentworth at 7 p.m. today.

Keith “Zero” Mabe
Eden

I may not always agree with Billy Yow’s politics, but his request to add a one-cent sales-tax referendum to the November ballot is absolutely the right thing to do. It spreads the burden among everyone to repay the millions of dollars in new debt (bonds) that the voters (property owners and non-property owners) have chosen to incur. It is not fair for one group of citizens (property owners) to bear the burden.

Paul O’Neal
Summerfield

I take issue to a comment made by Professor Keith Debbage during his interview on his State of the City report (May 23). Professor Debbage, there is no such thing as a “pink collar worker.”

First, many more nurses today are men.

Second, as a registered nurse, I am a health care professional. Health care professionals do hands-on work (like “blue collar”), yet are highly educated (like “white collar”). Neither label really fits what we do.

“Pink” implies something fluffy and emotional but not really important. Nurses do hard physical labor that requires enormous scientific knowledge, close observational skills, and the ability to critically think in a crisis and to prevent one.

So please don’t call me a “pink collar worker.” Find some other way of talking about health care professionals that shows respect.

Amy Crittenden
Greensboro

Poor Gerald Witt. I imagine Gerald must have parked in the boss’ parking space and was “sentenced” to cover the county commissioners’ last meeting (May 22).

All is well since he got even with the News & Record by doing them the disservice of not covering a single issue on the agenda. Instead we got more coverage of the Skip and Billy show. Billy Yow says something dumb (constituents love it) and Skip calls racism (constituents love it) and our paper covers that as the meeting. Is the business of the county so damn boring that these leaders need something to liven it up? Readers get a silly story.

Enough said.

In many countries, people believe government never solves problems. If there is a banking crisis or some other crisis, the people call a “strike” and for a day or two the players in the crisis get no business. All they get is time to work out their problems.

I propose that the News & Record stop covering the silliness. Go on strike! In the long run, the future owners of the News & Record will inherit a better paper and a better community for the newspaper.

Mark Holder
Summerfield

On May 21, I was a victim of a burglary for the second time in six months. This time the thieves broke my window and did much damage to my automobile. When I called 911, the dispatcher told me there were more serious crimes happening, but I think a crime is a crime no matter the seriousness.

I am a college-educated young black man and I don’t believe in using race as an excuse to get by in life, but this time I do believe race was a factor in determining the response time of the Police Department.

It is very clear that if there is a complaint about drugs or any illegal activity on a specific side of town, the police will be there with no problem. This crime occurred on Spring Garden Street, and when I was asked the model of my car, and once the dispatcher could tell my ethnicity, I think that was the reason my situation was taken lightly. It is relevant that racism still exists today.

The thing with racism is anybody can talk about it but it takes a strong individual to take a stand. That is what needs to be done in Greensboro.

Christopher Monds
Greensboro

“Et tu, Brutus?” said Caesar more than 2,000 years ago. And I say now: You, too, Obama.

According to your latest speeches, you are already in the “pockets” of Israel and the Jewish lobby. You are no different from Bush and McCain, and if elected may start a new war, attacking Iran to satisfy Israel, squandering more billions and killing thousands of our soldiers. Don’t count on the votes of millions of us.

There will be no peace in the Middle East until Israel returns every inch of Palestine to the Palestinian people.

Helio Salvador
Greensboro

Much too much has been said and no action taken about taxes, except to continue to raise them on the people who pay the most, i.e., the property owners. It’s about time our elected representatives stopped running for re-election and did what is their responsibility — to meet the expenses of our government through equal and reasonable taxation — and to stop laying it on one group of citizens.

Being that the many bonds were passed and a small way to pay for them was defeated, I suggest the following to spread the responsibility:

Establish a per-capita tax for all to share the load and take some of the burden off the property owner. But, you say, “That would hurt those who least can afford to pay.” True. However, exceptions can be made through the establishment of an income ceiling, and those who can prove they can’t afford it, don’t pay it.

It’s time to do what is right and fair for the majority of our citizens. For some, the free ride should be over.

Paul J. Smith
Greensboro

I am a disabled retreader. I worked retreading truck tires for 37 years. I have worked with bus tires for school districts in South Carolina and was employed with a major tire manufacturer the last 15 years before I became disabled as an inspector and quality-control inspector of retreaded tires.

I disagree that the tire repairs are unnecessary. In most instances, rock drills require removal and filling in, which is a very time-consuming and costly step in the retreading process. Some retreaders charge for one or two spot repairs per tire just to break even on the tires with more than one spot. I have seen tires with as many as 15 spots and, of course, you can’t charge for all of them so you do the best you can.

I am sure White’s Tire would elaborate to whomever desires this knowledge.

Larry R. Painter
Greensboro

Who the heck is Billy Yow? I know he’s a county commissioner and a r-a-c-i-s-t. But really, who the heck is he?

Did he really say all black people “look alike” and then say it was a “running joke”? Like a refrigerator running down the street? Or what?

Furthermore, who the heck voted for him? Really. If you did, please write a letter to the editor and tell me why.

Marilyn Frierson Melvin
Greensboro

Reidsville police spent a lot of officers’ time and taxpayers’ money recently to arrest just two drunken drivers out of hundreds of cars stopped and inconvenienced at a DWI checkpoint (“Reidsville checkpoint results in 45 charges, including 2 DWIs,” May 24).

In the fight to get drunken drivers off the roads, North Carolina law-enforcement agencies would likely make far more arrests if they spent their available patrol time roaming the streets looking for drunken drivers, rather than standing at roadblocks waiting for these drivers to come to them.

Because they are highly visible by design and publicized in advance, roadblocks are all too easily avoided by the chronic alcohol abusers who comprise the core of today’s drunken driving problem. Conversely, the number of DWI arrests made by roving patrol programs is nearly 10 times the average number of DWIs made by checkpoints, according to testimony by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation official. Reidsville residents and taxpayers would benefit from employing the most effective tactics to catch drunken drivers: roving police patrols.

Sarah Longwell
Washington, D.C.

The writer is managing director, American Beverage Institute.

Kay “Surrender, Cut and Run” Hagan is running a very interesting race for the U.S. Senate. She appears to be taking her marching orders from those West Coast socialist defeatists, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the News & Record news staff, and her most prominent backer, Rosemary Roberts.

I notice that analysis pieces about Hagan appear as lead stories in your newspaper, and mentions of Elizabeth Dole are often buried or nonexistent.

Hagan, after a speech in Thomasville honoring service people who have given their lives for this country, dishonored our fighting people in Iraq by saying in a TV interview they have accomplished nothing. Of course, she is an expert, learning all she knows by reading socialist, defeatist commentaries. She should run well on a ticket with that master of appeasement, Barack Hussein Obama.

I really am not a Dole supporter, but Hagan is such a fake. Why could the Democrats not do better?

Jack Stratas
Denton

The following is a Counterpoint.

I write in response to the May 17 column by Cal Thomas. Once again, Thomas is denigrating those who maintain global climate change is real and dangerous. He is upset that John McCain spoke of global climate change as real and a danger to our children. But he actually attacks all who hold this view.

He refers to such people as belonging to the global warming cult. He claims they ignore “evidence and facts contrary to their blind faith.” However, Thomas gives very little in the way of facts and evidence to refute the reality of global climate change. He claims there are growing numbers of atmospheric scientists who are emerging from the global warming cult to testify to their negative convictions. Yet, he gives no names, so we cannot verify this assertion. He speaks of scientists disturbed that current data don’t seem to fit an unnamed computer model. This is cherry-picking at its worst.

Does Thomas challenge the well-established fact that the earth has warmed a full degree Fahrenheit in the last 20 years? Does he deny that the ocean has warmed and that the Greenland ice cap is melting at an astonishing rate? What does he say to the fact that glaciers all over the world are retreating and that rivers and lakes are freezing later in the fall and thawing earlier in the spring? Has he considered the amazing number of plants flowering and animals breeding earlier in the spring? What about the numerous examples of animals and plants moving up mountains and toward the poles in response to a warmer climate? Are all the thousands and thousands of scientists who have gathered such evidence cult members?
Most of these scientists studied for years at the best universities in the United States and the world. Are we to believe they all ignore evidence and facts? Who is the actual cult member here?

Many of these examples I mention are given in the Web site climatehotmap.org. I am not affiliated with this Web site.

The writer is with the Department of Biology at UNCG.

Apparently, the price of fuel has not gotten high enough yet. I drive the interstate each work day and most vehicles speed on as if the drivers think the price of gas and diesel is still a dollar a gallon. I see cars going at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit, and this includes both private autos and police cars.

Police cars, obviously not on any emergency call, including State Highway Patrol, county sheriff, and police cars from other towns and cities, speed on with impunity. Many truck divers with diesel prices nearing $5 a gallon, exceed the speed limit by at least five to 10 mph. It appears that speed and convenience are still more important to us than the hit we’re taking in the pocketbook.

I don’t know what the price of fuel will have to reach before it slows people down in order to conserve more, but with our present way of driving, it looks like the price will have to keep on climbing for a while yet.

Tim Martin
Greensboro

Columnist Charles Davenport joined the huffy throng of white Americans who are astonished by the fact that some black Americans are simply not grateful enough for their freedom. His May 25 appraisal of Michelle Obama as a potential first lady found her lacking because she has had the audacity to articulate what African Americans have been saying for the last 40 years and what is evident in objective studies: Despite legal mandates, blacks have not achieved equal advantages to whites in the United States.

Blacks (like women) are paid less. The mortgage industry has been shown to be less favorable to African American home buyers. Blacks receive harsher sentences than whites for the same crimes. Greensboro neighborhoods are still mostly segregated by race. And even when they go to the doctor, blacks are less likely to get as much prescription pain relief. The statistics don’t present equality, so I’m seldom surprised to hear a black American say “we can do better.”
Davenport speaks in glib condescension of how Ms. Obama benefited from the same affirmative action policies acknowledged as helpful by Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.

I get the impression that Davenport is working to stifle any re-examination of race relations in America.

David McLean
Liberty

Cancer is the No. 1 killer of Americans under 85. In North Carolina, an estimated 17,450 people will die from the disease this year.

As a breast cancer survivor, I praise God and hope we all find these numbers unacceptable. It is time to recommit our nation to the war on cancer — and that challenge begins at home.
This summer and fall, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is bringing the cancer fight to our backyards through a nationwide bus tour. The Fight Back Express will be in Greensboro on June 13, at the Kmart Shopping Plaza (1302 Bridford Parkway) from 12:30-1:15 p.m. The bus will be on the road through Election Day, building a grass-roots movement united in its mission to defeat cancer and put cancer at the top of the nation’s agenda.

ACS CAN is committed to policy and legislation that boost cancer research funding at all levels; to broadening access to cancer prevention methods, early detection tools and treatment; and to strengthening tobacco-control measures.

Find out more at www.acscan.org and let your voice be one of the millions heard in support of making cancer a top national priority.

Viola A. Monroe
Greensboro

I will remember Greg Niles as a kind and considerate neighbor. When I moved to Greensboro, Greg and his family helped me hundreds of times, from pet sitting to crawling under the house and changing the filter in the furnace. Not only was Greg loved by his wonderful family and his colleagues, but also by his friends and neighbors. Greg’s many kindnesses will not be forgotten.

Deborah Karibian
Greensboro

Due to a typing error, the letter “Can Yow’s supporters explain voting for him?” (June 3) misstated the first name of the writer. The letter’s author is Marianne Frierson Melvin.

The following is a Counterpoint column.

I wanted to comment on your fine May 26 article about the death of George Preddy, leading P-51 “Mustang” ace of all time, killed by friendly fire on Christmas Day 1944. Our town can never pay sufficient tribute or honor to a family losing both sons in war.

George Preddy remains the all-time No. 6 ace of the United States.

Some corrections are needed, however.

The caption with the photograph of George’s brother Bill, also a P-51 pilot, states that he, too, “died by friendly fire.” In fact, he died of injuries sustained after enemy fire downed his aircraft in 1945.

The story stated that the Preddys were in “the Army Air Corps,” the predecessor of the modern U.S. Air Force (USAF). During World War II, the organization was part of the Army and known as the “United States Army Air Forces” (USAAF), the predecessor of the modern USAF. The Army Air Corps preceded the USAAF.

Concerning Pat Tillman, the article states that the Army reported that “its sniper had no way of knowing Tillman wasn’t the enemy.” If I remember correctly, Tillman fell in a hail of gunfire from several other Army soldiers, not from a single shooter or an Army sniper.

I have studied friendly fire extensively. The basic causes?

One: The shooter’s lack of “situational awareness,” i.e., he does not know his own location or the locations of allies or enemies.

Two: Failure, as in the Tillman case, to positively identify the target as enemy.
Three: “The fog of war.”

The first two causes can be prevented somewhat by training, planning and discipline, but the fog of war has always been and always will be inherent in combat, notwithstanding preventive measures.

The fog of war is confusion inherent in warfare, the “friction” that makes the simplest task a nightmare. It is the failure to follow directions. It is the unforeseen event or action by friend or foe; it is combatants “not following the script.”

The list of the elements of fog — what can go wrong in warfare — is nearly infinite.
The old saying is that “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

The writer is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He is a Greensboro native who lives in Norfolk, Va.

Wednesday's No. 2 editorial.

Something’s not right with this picture: The city of Greensboro is about to annex the Cardinal and other areas — and take on the responsibility of providing services for them — yet it is planning to stop repaving streets for a year because it lacks the money.

Maybe the city should get its priorities in order. With engineers having determined that one-fifth of the city’s streets need to be paved immediately, repaving should be a priority.

The one-year moratorium idea came about as a way to avoid raising the tax rate and balance the budget. City Council member Robbie Perkins rightly calls the move penny-wise and pound-foolish. Raleigh, where such a stunt was pulled a few years ago, still suffers the effects of delayed maintenance. In a year, small road problems can grow to be bigger and more costly.
But delaying repaving now — when the costs of asphalt and other petroleum products are skyrocketing and aren’t likely to decline — is especially ill-advised. The price for a ton of asphalt in Greensboro has doubled in the last five years, from around $30 a ton to about $60. And let’s not forget the fuel required to run the repaving vehicles.

Greensboro isn’t a rust-belt city like Youngstown, Ohio, that is so strapped for cash it has been forced to abandon parts of its city. There they’re bulldozing abandoned homes and pulling up the streets.

Still what Youngstown is doing is more principled than what’s been proposed for Greensboro.
It would even be worse if the idea behind the paving moratorium was that it would spur city voters to pass the transportation bond package that will be on the November ballot. It likely will contain about $15 million for maintenance over 10 years. There is no guarantee that package will pass — and even if it does, the repaving still would have been delayed.

The city needs to find the $2 million. It also needs to examine whether it can cut repaving costs. Using asphalt with a higher recycled content, for example, might provide more road for the dollar.

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Byron Loflin

Imagine if New York decided that Central Park should be sold for development or if London parceled off Hyde Park for commercial expansion. Would Paris be La Ville-lumière without its glorious parks?

Allen Johnson (column, May 4) insinuates that the Downtown Greenway, priced at $26 million, is excessively expensive.

First, Johnson’s logic is flawed as he compares the Greenway to Newbridge Park, which sits on an acre of land, is privately controlled and accessed only by paying customers. It is a wonderful part of our community but it is a business. This is comparing apples and oranges.

Let us all hope that Greensboro citizens will fund the civil rights museum, downtown development and more. But Greensboro is at a critical juncture in the world of cities competing in the new economy. The Center City Park is terrific, but not enough. Greensboro needs something that shows we mean business, particularly when we must compete for businesses looking to relocate.

Sagacious words offer that a “people without vision will perish.” The Greenway is a visionary project that demonstrates what is great within Greensboro.

Central Park covers approximately 36 million square feet. The Greensboro Greenway will be approximately 137,000. At the going rate of $1,000 a square foot, Central Park’s raw value is approximately $36 billion. If New York conservatively considered developing 70 percent of Central Park with buildings that average five stories, that city could net roughly 126 million square feet. The gross cash value of 126 million square feet in New York is roughly $113 billion. That’s approximately $13,000 for every person in New York.

The Greensboro Greenway will cost approximately $151 a square foot. That’s $130 per person in the Greensboro area or one-one-hundredth the per person value of Central Park.
In business school I learned to think about the world with and without me (or my business). What value do I bring to that world?

The world without Central Park is a giant city without a soul.

If Johnson gets his way, we may never learn what the world is like with a downtown greenway. A city searching for its soul needs an edge. The Greenway is a brilliant opportunity for us to show that we are a unique city connected to one another and to a future and a vision that add value to the world that comprises our community.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

The Greensboro City Council is considering eliminating the budget for road paving for FY 2008-09 as noted in an article by Taft Wireback (June 1). I favor some reduction in this budget.

For the 19 years I’ve lived here, I have repeatedly marveled at repaving of roads that seemed to have no problems. This includes my own road in the last couple years, which showed no need for repaving to my eye.

I lived a few years in the Chicago area, and visit my brother in New York State. In both areas, roads in much worse condition serve without being repaved. While their cold weather certainly stresses roads more, the communities seem to do fine with more cracks and bumps.

Keep the budget to fill potholes and cracks. Keep repaving some roads. But I’m quite supportive of waiting a couple more years between repaving — at least for the roads I have experienced.

Jean Pudlo
Greensboro

Nancy Bishop wrote (letter, May 20) that Sen. Elizabeth Dole has a stellar record on women’s rights. As secretary of labor under Reagan and more recently as a U.S. senator, Dole opposed the Family Medical Leave Act; voted against SCHIP six times before finally deciding that underprivileged North Carolina children needed a boost in health care coverage; reversed her initial support of the Equal Rights Amendment and also has been quite vocal about her stance against reproductive rights. These are not the positions of someone with a “stellar” women’s rights record.

As for Dole’s recent vote against the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, this is far from a vote for women’s rights. Bishop remarks that the act would make “small businesses and other employers vulnerable to discrimination suits years or decades after the alleged discrimination had occurred.” We suppose Bishop thinks it is far better for women to be vulnerable to inequality and continue to earn 23 cents less per dollar than men for years or decades to come.

Sen. Dole is not fighting for North Carolina women or their families. She never has and it is highly doubtful she will start should she win another term.

Virginia Gaylor
Greensboro

The writer is a member of Triad NOW.

I never thought I would agree with anything Earl Jones advocates, but legalizing pot for medical use makes sense to me.

Good luck, Earl — you’ll need it.

Fred Stanley
Browns Summit

Having two sons involved in Cub and Boy Scouts (past and currently), I was somewhat surprised to see the parade photo on B-1 (May 18).

For the Scout leaders of Troop 214, and all other Scout leaders as well, please visit www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html and learn the correct flag etiquette. The pertinent passage reads as follows: “... The flag, when carried in a procession with another flag, or flags, should be either on the marching right; that is, the flag’s own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line.”

But items Nos. 4 and 11 on this site also apply.

Please do better in future parades and functions.

Jack Snead
Jamestown

In response to American Airlines’ decision to charge for all luggage, an expert commentator on NPR was asked if airlines will start charging people according to their body weight. The answer? No, it would be an invasion of privacy.

Well, I have news for that expert. It is an invasion of my privacy to disallow any of my luggage as a “free” item when the guy next to me on my last flight weighed about 100 pounds more than I do and took up part of my seating space. So now I have to pay for my luggage and suffer through a flight by paying for 25 percent of his body mass in my seating area? That is a real invasion of privacy. Establish a weight limit per customer and apportion it to the passenger and his/her luggage and quit charging me for someone else’s inability to curb their caloric intake.

Gee, was that politically correct enough?

Warren Romaine
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Albert P. Lochra

As an original member of the Black Cap Veterans group and a long-time friend of its founder, Steve Millikin, I wish to thank the News & Record for its coverage of the Memorial Day ceremony at Greensboro Country Park (May 25).

The Black Caps do this primarily as their patriotic civic duty calling attention to the fact freedom is not free; sacrifices are sometimes necessary. When better to do this than on Memorial Day in May and Veterans Day in November?

The Black Caps plan, organize and manage these important functions, which are not just for veterans; they are also open to and for the benefit of the public — the more the better.

At the same time, I must advise of an omission in the News & Record’s account of this event.
Phil Johnson, current executive officer of the Black Caps, received no mention in the article.

Even before Millikin’s death last October, the executive board of the Black Caps agreed on the accession of Phil as its appointed leader.

Since then, Phil has worked effectively and tirelessly in conducting the yearly activities of this veterans and friends of veterans group, including not only the May and November park events, but also for our four breakfast programs.

We are indebted to Phil for his diligence. But, we also have every confidence that Phil’s successor, Jack Dubel, will be equally able and effective in the performance of these duties.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Most Americans are pretty angry about much of what goes on in our country. This is good, because there is plenty to be angry about. Many, for instance, are upset about $4 gasoline. But let’s direct our anger at the right targets.

One such target, in my view, is not big oil, with Exxon Mobil serving as the poster boy. Oil companies typically are earning about 8 percent profit on sales, pretax. This is a perfectly reasonable figure, perhaps a bit low in some eyes. What gets attention is the dollar amount of profit, which, of course, is large for the simple reason that sales volume is huge.

There are plenty of culprits at whom we could point our finger. Futures traders, OPEC, etc. But the biggest culprit is us, the American people.

We laughed at Jimmy Carter when he labeled the energy crisis the moral equivalent of war. We are the ones who drove huge powerful cars. We are the ones who always voted down mass transit initiatives.

Pogo was right when he identified the enemy. It is us, folks. It is us.

Don Hallock
Greensboro

If Mrs. Clinton appeals the DNC’s decision to penalize Michigan’s and Florida’s delegations for breaking the rules, that will tell me that she does not feel that when rules are broken there should be consequences and/or penalties.

I do not want a president who does not believe there should be consequences for breaking the rules.

Melinda D. DeVaughn
Greensboro

In “7 myths of North Carolina’s economy” by Brian Balfour of the Civitas Institute (May 25), the second myth focuses on the number of income earners versus tax dollar paid per dollar earned.

Based on “Free Lunch” by David Cay Johnston, 90 percent of the money is earned by 10 percent of the wage earners. Thus, it would be more meaningful to evaluate the taxes paid per dollar earned by the upper 17 percent of the wage earners. This would reflect the true tax burden.

The numbers in Balfour’s article are an attempt to show that the wealthy pay their fair share. A reality check is that the upper 17 percent of income earners probably pay less tax per dollar of earned income than the lower 65 percent of income earners.

Joe Sipp
Navarre, Fla.

The May 24 Counterpoint, “Please serve our students real food,” may mislead consumers about high fructose corn syrup.

High-fructose corn syrup, sugar and several fruit juices all contain the same simple sugars.
New research continues to confirm that high-fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like sugar and honey.

High-fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as sugar. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted high-fructose corn syrup “Generally Recognized as Safe” status for use in food, and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996 after thorough review.

High-fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits, too. It keeps foods fresh. It enhances fruit and spice flavors. It retains moisture in bran cereals and helps keep breakfast bars moist.

Consumers can see the latest research and learn more at www.HFCSfacts.com.

Audrae Erickson
Washington

The writer is president, Refiners Association, NW.

Greg Niles was a highly competent professional who came to Guilford County and performed a challenging job in a conscientious and superior way.

He always thoroughly familiarized himself with applicable guidelines and ramifications of potential courses of action. More than that, however, Greg was a genuine and kind person whose presence never failed to brighten up one’s day.

Along with his wonderful family (which was clearly his number one priority), all in the community will miss him.

Jonathan Maxwell
Greensboro

Hurrah for Billy Yow. He has the guts to speak up for the property owners of Guilford County who are being pounded every year with increased property taxes.

Our county is getting dangerously deep in debt by the incessant onslaught of bond issues that will take generations to pay off.

Yet, the over 50 percent of our county populous who own no property keep on passing bonds to be paid off on the backs of around 40 percent of our population (property owners) that pay 69 percent of the money to run this county. Only 20 percent of the revenue to run this county comes from sales tax. Everyone pays sales tax, including visitors who come to special events such as the ACC.

What is going on here? I say let’s have a 2- or 3-cent sales tax increase to even things up. Why should such a large percentage of citizens freeload on the backs of property owners?

I say right on, Billy Yow. I’m proud to say that you grew up in my practice.

Richard M. Fields
Pleasant Garden

Surely Greensboro City Council members have been possessed by some mental affliction. Not only have some stated they need to add more taxes to the already overburdened property owners, but now they want “deferred maintenance” so they can use the money for something else.

I have seen before where streets have “deferred maintenance,” and it ends up costing up to five times the amount it normally would have. Plus it always comes back to more bonds, which cost property owners, and rates are never reduced after a bond is paid off. Oh! That is new-found money after being paid off.

Quit buying $40,000 trucks for maintenance supervisors who don’t need them to haul anything; put them in small trucks. Save money by cutting spending (in case you didn’t think of that).

Buddy Cato
Greensboro

We should formalize the annual Guilford County budget-bicker event. We could hang banners (Go Commissioners! Power to the Schools! No more money! Show me the money! What money?!), have snack vendors, and sell programs. Oops! That’d make the budget-bicker synonymous with the circus, wouldn’t it?

All levity aside, the schools do ask for increasing budget allotments from the county commissioners every year. For some folks, that is all there is to know, which means that the most important element is ignored. Yes, Guilford County Schools always asks for additional funds; but they also provide improved results. Adequate and positive growth as a community is not possible without excellent education. Excellent education is not possible without needed funding. Sure, we can all debate what needed funding means.

Ultimately it comes down to this: Denying requested funds means that students lose out. The heart of the matter, the only thing that matters at all: It is always students who pay for the loss.

Melanie McCarthy
Greensboro

Just wanted to let Christopher Monds (“Not everyone receives equal police assistance,” letter, June 2) know that when my Caravan was broken into — broken window and purse stolen — the police dispatcher gave me the same information.

No police officer ever came to my location to write a report or really do anything. I am a white female.

Karen Finch
Greensboro

I’m a member of the ONE Campaign, an advocacy organization dedicated to fighting global AIDS and extreme poverty around the world.

It disturbed me when it came to my attention that Sen. Richard Burr is putting a hold on a bill (PEPFAR) that would bring life-saving medicine to millions of people in need. Preventing HIV/AIDS from spreading and helping those with this disease are very pressing issues that cannot wait to be thought over and discussed at length.

Five years ago, PEPFAR was able to help 1.4 million people with HIV/AIDS get medicine and treatment. Today, PEPFAR’s time has run out and it is being considered for reauthorization and expansion. This process is being held up in the Senate. The House of Representatives passed the bill in April with a hardy 308-116 vote.

I urge Sen. Burr to lift this hold and to pass this bill quickly. Lives are at stake here; what more needs to be said?

Jordan A. Baker
High Point

I’d like to send out a challenge to all residents of the Triad to consider these things:

l There are more than 250 million registered vehicles in the United States (U.S. Department of Transportation figures for 2006). If each of those 250 million cars’ owners spent $10 a week less in gasoline, we would spend $2 billion less weekly on gas. That would offer huge bargaining power as consumers to express our displeasure in these high prices.

l This can be achieved by carpooling or using resources provided by PART (Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation).

l This could speak volumes to the gas companies.

l This could save energy and our reliance on foreign sources.

DeAnna Lawson-Hay
Kernersville

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Becky Strickland

I do not know whether your Summerfield reporter was distracted or whether she was edited by you, but her article in the June 4 edition of the Guilford Record supposedly covering the 2008-09 budget presentation to the Summerfield Town Council totally missed the mark and is factually incomplete.

While the state of the economy was the main impetus behind a push by me to reduce the proposed property tax rate to 2.5 cents by cutting funding priorities, what Kavita Pillai materially failed to report was my recommendation that the first “cut” be from me; i.e., from governing body expenses.

The budget discussion, which lasted more than three hours, was premised entirely on my and Councilwoman Alicia Flowers’ willingness to relinquish our monthly stipends, and reduce education and publications items (amounting to an estimated $20,000 of governing body expenses in toto) — if other departments/committees would produce similar pro rata cuts from their budget requests in order to reach the $100,000 needed for an additional 1-cent reduction in proposed property taxes.

Ergo, the crux of the entire discussion was that some elected officials were willing to forgo their salaries to help decrease property taxes for Summerfield residents in these dire economic times when gas is almost $4 per gallon, houses are not selling, and lots remain vacant. Flowers’ and my concession, however, was not well received by the majority of the council, who were and are ready to pass the budget as presented that night. The official minutes of the meeting, the audio recording, are all-telling.

Efficient and effective governing starts at the top. In hard times leaders have to be willing to give up something to get something. Nothing is free. If the government provides it, then the taxpayers pay for it.

The citizens whom I represent deserve to know what actually transpired at that meeting and how strongly at least two council members feel about taxing them and spending their money — facts clearly related but which your reporter so conveniently omitted for whatever reason.

If elected officials at any level of government are willing to volunteer their time as opposed to being compensated in order to try to help their citizens with basic needs and bring home buyers into the area, surely that is newsworthy by any journalistic standard. So just what would the News & Record standard be?

The writer is a Summerfield Town Council member.

God help us all! David Parrish (letter, May 31) wants to install yet another gadget on our cars to complicate our driving even more.

How can I be expected to eat my Bo-Biscuit, comb my hair, text my boss that I’ll be a few minutes late, referee the kids in the back seat, adjust my GPS, turn down the radio so I can arrange a lunch date with my friends, wash the windshield, change gears, and still have a free hand to turn on a new gadget every time I switch lanes or make a turn?

I say it’s every man for himself. So look out, here I come!

C.M. Marshall
Greensboro

On May 25, my husband and I stopped at a fast-food restaurant for lunch. There were four Greensboro police cars in the parking lot with the engines and air conditioners running. The officers were inside eating while my tax money was paying for wasted gas.

About 15 minutes later, one of the cars started smoking. It overheated. A tow truck was called to pick up the car. Of course, more of my tax money was wasted on the tow bill.

I’ve always respected and admired police officers and what they do to keep us safe. Now, all I ask for is a little respect back when it comes to spending my money.

To the four officers: Thanks for enjoying my paycheck. I can hardly afford to put gas in my one car because I’m having to put gas in your four cars. I’m glad, however, that I could help the city waste money.

Sheryl Baker
Greensboro

Is Keith Hoile (letter, May 29) for real? Or is that name a pseudonym for big oil? You can’t justify big oil making obscene profits by showing that other companies make more.

What’s more to the point, those other companies sell voluntary products and services. And, despite what Hoile thinks, oil prices are having a massive negative effect on our economy.
I can’t think of how Google or others with big profits have any effect on the cost of living.

Bill Lawson
Stoneville

Doug Clark’s “Second Opinion” of May 28 discussed a problem for North Carolina voters few may be aware of: manipulation of voting districts (at every level) to assure the election of party candidates from a particular party. Both parties are guilty. A number of examples can probably be cited. The North Carolina legislature is in charge of arranging the voting districts.

Several years ago, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina proposed voting districts adhering faithfully to the law requiring balanced voting-age populations in each district regardless of party affiliation. The plan was presented to the proper governmental commission. Needless to say, it never made it out of committee.

Arranging the districts by population instead of by party predominance is a huge job; if they were to take on this task now, maybe this time the plan would be adopted.

Barbara P. Walker
Greensboro

Last month’s big story was Scott McClellan’s confessions that Bush misled us to wage war in Iraq, continuing his fraud right up to the present day.

The book brings to mind the Joseph Goebbels quote, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. … It becomes vitally important for the state to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state.”

Cal Thomas writes in his column (May 31) that the Democrats have “fraudulently” misled the American people by failing to end the Iraq war. It must be an oversight that he fails to even mention McClellan’s revelations or the fact that he has never had a problem with the Iraq war in the first place.

Seeking the whole truth rather than half-truths makes us wiser, calmer and stronger.
The converse, of course, makes us dumber, more emotionally unstable and weaker.

Heck of a job, Cal!

Kurt Lauenstein
Greensboro

As a bicyclist traveling rural roads through various Triad counties, I am constantly amazed, at times frightened, and often angered by the disregard for safety and human life exhibited by drivers of vehicles. I ride with various groups and, without fail, each individual is aware of their presence on the road and takes every precaution to enhance safety for fellow riders and courtesy to drivers. Yet on every ride I witness drivers placing themselves and the drivers of other vehicles at risk, in addition to cyclists.

This year a friend of mine was killed while riding a rural road. Now his wife and three daughters and the 17-year-old driver of the vehicle and her family have had their lives unalterably changed. How tragic that a lack of attention or patience will now impact so many, so dramatically, and for so long. A bike and rider are no match for a vehicle.

Please allow us a moment of your time and some space on the road. We will all be happier in the long run.

Mark Johnston
High Point