News-Record.com

As a registered nurse in a broad range of health care services for 40 years, I and innumerable other nurses and patients would be remiss in not expressing our sincere gratitude to someone with the highest professional ethics and expertise in diagnosis and treatment of patients: Dr. Robert Foreman of Eagle Family Medicine at Guilford College. We have learned with much regret that he may be retiring in the near future in consideration of other specialty care.

Upon his arrival in Greensboro in 1973, Dr. Foreman immediately earned respect for his integrity and his innate empathy and quality patient care, improving the health status of each patient in his extremely busy practice. His arrival at our local hospital was the catalyst for improved conditions.

Of special significance is that a patient’s socioeconomic or financial status did not deter the medical care needed. His extraordinary dedication will continue to be reflected in his future assignment of missionary health care.

Dr. Foreman, each member of our family believes the Great Producer selected His best parts, assembled them and sent you as our special gift in medical practice. Thank you for sharing this journey of life; we shall always remember!

Jessie Donathan Howard
Greensboro

I had the most pleasurable experience when I recently flew on Allegiant Air to Florida. The crew, the appearance, the timeliness and the cost were all beyond expectations. All was perfect.

Regarding your reader question about weight restrictions: The airline restricts the seat to 17.8 inches from armrest to armrest. If you are unable to lower the armrest and compromise any adjacent seat, you must purchase a second ticket unless the adjacent seat is occupied by a member of your party who does not mind being encroached upon. This makes a lot of sense.

One reader mentioned doing away with the magazines, and another wants them to stay. I rarely see anyone reading the magazines. If there is a profit to the airline, then let them stay; otherwise they need to go. This is no big loss. Bring a newspaper if you care to read.

The extra charge for checked luggage is only fair to the airline and passengers who pay for a service they never use. There isn’t a charge for carry-ons that fit overhead and a parcel that will fit under the seat.

Keep up the good work, Allegiant, and we wish you success.

Olga Coble
Liberty

I note that our young people (college students in particular) are endorsing Sen. Obama as if he is some newcomer who is the answer to all the world’s problems.

I don’t care what his ethnic background is. I do care about his position on taxes. All of these enthusiastic young people need to talk to their parents about the tax thing.

Consider that the majority of American citizens are depending on investments to help them have a decent lifestyle in their old age. They also depend on them to help pay the tuition and support of those adoring young people. Their grandparents are probably retired and their previous savings and investments are the only thing that makes their living above the poverty level possible.

Contrary to popular belief, most Americans depend now, or will depend in the future, on money invested in some sort of stocks, bonds or mutual funds to maintain a standard of living that would not otherwise be possible. Obama wishes to double the tax rate on these investments. Sure encourages people to save and plan for the future, doesn’t it?

Edgar Phillips
Pleasant Garden

I would like to praise Michelle Singletary for her column, “Boomers, pay off mortgage” (June 22). My husband and I are baby boomers and we just paid off our mortgage in order to be 100 percent debt-free.

Thanks to a course offered by our church five or so years ago by Dave Ramsey (visit www.daveramsey.com), we took to heart his message on the freedom and savings of living debt-free. Now at ages 50 and 54, we can put what was once debt into a SEP IRA and enjoy the savings and earnings during retirement.

We did not throw a party, but we did shred the mortgage book and took our three teenagers out for a nice dinner.

Nancy Hull
Greensboro

As a North Carolina taxpayer, I am appalled by Gov. Easley’s lavish and wasteful use of our tax money on his recent trip to Italy. Easley needs to recognize that his constituents work hard every day to earn a living and pay taxes to support our state government. We deserve value for our money.

Taxpayers should not have to shell out $3,600 per day for a chauffeured limousine, more than $500 for dinner, $700 for lunch for a party of eight, and more than $500 a room per night for hotels. Almost none of us can afford luxuries like that, even during a vacation.

We should be able to recruit businesses and tourism without that extravagance.

Patricia R. Shumard
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Andy Ellen

I read with interest the editorial, “Smaller trucks, safer roads” (June 19), which seeks to tarnish the N.C. Senate’s unanimous 47-0 vote on Senate Bill 1695 to allow the industry standard 53-foot trailers on more North Carolina roads.

The N.C. Senate should be commended for recognizing that without SB 1695, rural North Carolina will continue to be locked out of economic prosperity because 70 percent of goods move via trucks.

Under current law, there are some North Carolina counties that do not have a single road that the 53-foot trailer is permitted to use. Groceries do not magically appear on the shelves in rural areas, and no company is going to locate a manufacturing facility or a distribution center in an area of North Carolina where they cannot transport their products.

As I read the News & Record’s viewpoint, I wondered if any member of the editorial staff had actually read the language of SB 1695. The authority to determine which roads should not be used by the 53-foot trailer does not rest with a legislative committee as the News & Record has inaccurately stated, but rather only requires that the Department of Transportation consult with a committee. In other words, the final authority resides with DOT, which will certainly consult with the Highway Patrol.

Proponents of SB 1695 have acknowledged, since the bill was introduced, that there are some mountain roads that will need to be restricted, and yet the News & Record seems to ignore this point. What the News & Record also continues to ignore is that not every North Carolinian lives within three miles of an interstate. SB 1695 is good for consumers, good for rural North Carolina and good for the environment.

The writer is general counsel, North Carolina Retail Merchants Association in Raleigh.

Your paper reported in “Audit: Doctors owe taxes for free drugs” that free medicine samples are “office supplies,” considered “personal property” of a medical practice and, therefore, subject to taxation by the Guilford County tax office. Talk about the far-reaching arm of the law!

I don’t see Eagle Physicians’ doctors handing out tongue depressors, paper clips, toner cartridges, clipboards, etc. These are office supplies. Even in the category of personal property, the county’s claim is bogus.

These drugs are passed by pharmaceutical reps to doctors with the intent that they be passed on to needy patients. What is personal about this for the doctor or his practice? This is simply a professional courtesy to patients and a much-needed relief to people who struggle to pay for the medications they need. Free samples provide a much-needed service in a health-care system that few people can really afford, especially with rising prices and record job losses.

Guilford County Tax Director Francis Kinlaw has exhibited poor judgment, insensitivity and greed. Anyone who has ever depended on and appreciated a free sample should contact the county manager, the county commissioners, the tax office and your legislators. Take a stand or we’ll be the ones to really pay.

Carlton Ward
Carthage

At last! Guilford Tax Director Francis Kinlaw and his diligent staff, which vows to stick to “the letter of the law” and not the “spirit,” have figured out how to balance the county’s budget without raising taxes again. I venture to say that the current budget will be reduced by half in less than five years by following “the letter of the law.”

Of course, I refer to taxes owed by Eagle Physicians and Associates for the free samples disbursed to patients. Kinlaw should add to his audit agenda visits to Costco to savor free food samples or Ben and Jerry’s for a free spoonful of the ice cream, flavor of his choice, or Macy’s perfume counter for a free aromatic spritz. Oh, and how about those tasty free mints at many of Greensboro’s restaurant counters, or why not go after professors who receive free textbook samples?

So many transgressions, so little time. Surely, Kinlaw’s contribution to balancing the county’s budget will be laudable for years to come!

If, Kinlaw’s view that “we’re responsible for conducting ourselves under the law” is equally enforced, Guilford citizens should be receiving no tax bills and a modest economic incentive check by 2012.

Joe Benson
Greensboro

The Guilford commissioners may yet conclude that a quarter-loaf is better than no loaf at all, even if the bakery that was closed on May 6 is even more likely to be closed on Nov. 4 (“Sales tax plan might appear on ballot in fall,” June 21). Your editorial about Billy Yow’s souped-up sales tax (May 22) contained two true statements:

1. “Commissioners can’t legally guarantee that a new sales tax would be applied as Yow suggests (to offset the property tax). ...”

2. “The real issue is the sales tax itself.”

What sales-tax boosters find so seductive —millions in moolah, but a low profile at the grocery store — is what makes a sales tax, any sales tax, so treacherous. The windfall accelerates spending, and accelerates it painlessly.

But because the new revenue stream is hostage to the vicissitudes of retail activity, the fiscal infusion creates expectations it cannot sustain. Then the only way to make up the difference is to tap the only ever-dependable source of cash: the property tax.

A higher sales tax means a higher property tax. It’s counterintuitive (to borrow a word from Allen Johnson), but true.

Barney Hill
Thomasville

Well, here we go again. The leaders of this city have finally shown their true colors, and it looks a lot like green. With foreclosures at a record pace, gasoline at $4 a gallon, food skyrocketing, property taxes going through the roof and the economy down, Robbie Perkins, Goldie Wells and T. Dianne Bellamy-Small are whining about their pay. I thought I read somewhere that all Bellamy-Small wanted to do (when she was facing a recall election) was to just serve the people. Looks like serving the people is getting just too expensive.

Meanwhile, Goldie Wells says she is embarrassed to tell others how little she makes for her “service.” The people of those districts should be embarrassed that their leaders are bellyaching about their pay. I thought the reason one wanted to become a council member was to serve the people of this city, not to see how much they could get out of it.

Do like the rest of the citizens of this city and county: Tighten up your belt and do your job!

Ernie Andrews
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Lynn Long

As the parent of a middle schooler, I take great offense with Doug Clark’s June 18 column. My son Andrew is a rising seventh-grader at Kernodle Middle School. He is a bright, kind, giving boy growing into a young man. He is active in our church, sports at the Spears YMCA and Boy Scout Troop 109.

He is not “hostile and abusive,” as Clark called all middle schoolers in his column. He and his classmates are not “in an adversarial relationship against a lone teacher.”

The middle school children I know are wonderful kids. They want to learn. They want to please teachers, coaches, scout leaders and parents. They are doing this in a world that does not always respect them.

Each day they are bombarded with the good and bad of this world. For Clark to dump all middle schoolers into a lump of worthless, stupid, uncaring, disrespectful and violent human beings is unfair.

Each of us should be doing all we can do to uplift all children to help them become the leaders of tomorrow. I do not know the teacher Clark referred to, nor do I know the specifics of her case. I am sorry that her job “drove her crazy.” My son was taught by six of the most educated and dedicated teachers. Yes, they were ready for the year to end, as we all are ready for things to end. This does not mean that they were “desperately clinging to sanity until summer vacation finally” arrived.

Many teachers will spend this summer learning new material to become better teachers. Like children, they will spend time relaxing and preparing for a new school year and new adventures.

No, my son is not perfect and wonderful all the time. He drives me, his father, his teachers and his coaches crazy sometimes. He is silly and irresponsible sometimes. This is what a middle schooler is.

Mr. Clark, I invite you to meet the middle schoolers I know. You will be impressed by the children you meet.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

The Counterpoint by Philip Porter (June 25) makes a good case for adding a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

He notes our national debt of $7 trillion is “an unsecured loan to the government not backed by anything that can be seen or touched; it covered current expense, not capital.”

What’s happening in our economy today is a reflection of poor fiscal management that Congress could but won’t fix. The tax-and-spend juggernaut rolls on despite all the sweet rhetoric about “change.”

Unfortunately, in too many cases our corporate culture follows the same pattern of government excess. Responsibility and common sense seem in short supply.

Our nation and its citizens are the victims.

Bill Beerman
Greensboro

I was reading the letters on June 21. It amazes me that people like Dave Derence blame this country’s problems on Democrats.

If I remember correctly, George Bush and his cohorts have been in office the past eight years. His so-called experience in office before he was elected has done nothing but get this country in a worse mess than the last Republican president. Bush has created more terrorism.

It’s going to take someone like Barack Obama, who at least wants to try to make change, to get us out the mess this nation has been facing for the past eight years. Bush will go down in history with the worst approval rating ever. What was Bush’s military experience? George Bush has put this country in danger.

While Clinton was in office, we had jobs and reasonable gas prices. Homes were not being foreclosed by the thousands, and everyone was, for the most part, happy.

I am one of the thousands of Americans who have lost their jobs and health insurance. So if you want five more years of war, no jobs, high food prices and gas, go ahead and vote for John McCain.

I have a conscience. Do you?

If you think it’s bad now, vote for McCain. You get what you vote for.

S.D. McClelland
Greensboro

Barack Obama has claimed that he does not take donations from special-interest groups or lobbyists. True, but he has accepted donations from their spouses, relatives and friends (source: Fox News).

Obama has no respect for the Second Amendment. He has voiced support or voted to ban all handguns, ban the right to carry in every state, and to ban firearms in the home, even for self-protection.

Obama’s attitude toward armed, violent criminals has been one of benign neglect at best. When the Illinois Senate wanted to try gang-bangers as adults when they fired a gun on or near a school ground (1999) or when they committed murder to help their gang, and when the Senate wanted to make them eligible for the death penalty (2001), Obama voted no in both cases.
Obama said he believed federal mandatory-sentencing laws used to put armed and violent predators behind bars should be abolished (source: Chicago Tribune).

When Illinois lawmakers introduced a bill that would exonerate citizens for violating local gun bans if they used a gun to defend themselves in their homes, Obama voted no. Obama would disarm the public and allow the criminals to run free.

Anthony Belli
Greensboro

Strap in! The GOP slime machine is cranked up and ready to go. Prepare for Elizabeth Dole, George Bush, John McCain and others to tell us how Sen. Kay Hagan will take away our guns, have tea with terrorists, blast open our southern border and let gay people marry!

In a nutshell, it is the same stuff that put Bush in office. Fear! Fear! Fear! That’s all they have to peddle after the past eight years.

“Giddy” Dole has been nothing short of a lap dog for George Bush, showing up in North Carolina just months before the election, after being totally absent for over five-and-a-half years! Her ads are slick, but she can’t pull the wool over this state twice. She is a pitiful excuse for a senator.
Kay Hagan, my family stands with you!

John Graham
Greensboro

I have been disturbed by the amount of disrespect that friends and family show at high school graduations by shouting and making loud noises when names of graduates are called.

Recently I attended a high school graduation in Spartanburg, S.C., and, before the names were called, an announcement was made that if anyone clapped, shouted or made noises of any kind while names were called, the police would escort them out. A few were.

Guilford County Schools administrators should take notice, and before graduation in 2009 this issue should be addressed.

I am sure most parents would enjoy a graduation that is handled with respect. (GCS administrators should read an article in the June 11 News & Record, Section B, “Seven arrested after cheers disrupt graduation.”)

Elizabeth East
Whitsett

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Kim Leipham-Freedman

Kathleen Parker (column, June 21) makes a valid point: Women probably have a gender bias that accounts for their desire to stay home and care for their newborns. But when she goes on to agree with Stephen Rhoades’ conclusion that “women simply like child care more than men,” Parker puts herself on a slippery slope. Those of us in the trenches know that child care is only part of parenthood.

Life with children can be wonderful, but it is also is filled with endless, mindless, monotonous tasks. Show me a modern mom who “likes” filling out 42 permission slips and 18 sports waivers or “enjoys” juggling visits to the pediatrician, guitar teacher and orthodontist and I’ll show you a woman who is spiking her organic tea.

Parker tells us that even the folks at Harvard have determined that our rut of domestic inequality probably goes back to our hunter-gatherer forebears, and that some things “just are.” She speaks about men and women having “different” parenting standards, implying that men are somehow not as good in the parenting department. Rubbish.

I’m less inclined to blame genetics for my husband’s inability to handle the ins and outs of camp registration. (His incompetence is in fact delivered with a particular genius.) But his parenting is in no way worse than mine. On any given day we both can be fairly incompetent.
Getting the insufferable jobs done isn’t about genetics or gender. Truth be told, the division of labor in families is never fair, and until the kids can list their own medical histories complete with group insurance numbers and emergency contact information, it never will be.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

OK, Democrats. Stop complaining about high gas prices. You and your environmentalist wacko friends are responsible for this mess. For 30-plus years, you have prevented new drilling in the United States and the building of new refineries.

You say we “can’t” drill our way to energy independence. “Can’t” shouldn’t be in the American vocabulary. Imagine Jack Kennedy saying in 1961 we “can’t” go to the moon!

Your once great party has decided to nominate another Jimmy Carter for president. I remember the “malaise” days the Georgia peanut farmer brought us and have no desire for a replay.

Oh, I forgot. The media has anointed Barack Obama as our new “messiah.” Maybe Obama can “change” water into gasoline and diesel fuel. After all, he is the candidate of “change.”

Jeffery Smith
Greensboro

According to meteorologists, our area is again in drought conditions. Under normal conditions it takes water for things to grow. However, that didn’t prevent Greensboro from growing on July 1.

Neither Greensboro City Council nor our state legislature has had the presence-of-mind to limit out-of-control growth. All City Council sees are the dollar signs in tax revenues. But will citizens see the associated services? Probably not.

The Greensboro Police Department is unable to meet its desired response time to calls as it stands. Why extend boundaries when the services are not provided at the current level?

City Manager Mitchell Johnson wants to add 29 officers to service the newly annexed areas. They will not even meet current needs. This is unsatisfactory for current and new residents, as well as for the understaffed police officers.

All of these issues would appear to be a matter of common sense, but then whoever would expect politicians on any level to either possess or use any of that?

Garret Canter
Greensboro

The residents of Aldersgate Apartments on Merritt Drive wish to thank the Greensboro Police Department for its kindness and community involvement.

Dewey Smith and other officers installed anti-theft bolts to residents’ license plates free of charge.

The department and officers are to be commended for their concern for the safety and well-being of older adults and the physically challenged.

Faye Yaskiewicz
Archdale

The writer’s mother is a resident of Aldersgate Apartments.

With the 2008 presidential election quickly approaching, it is easy to put other important races on the back burner. Even some of the most political savvy individuals will be well versed in the platforms of each presidential candidate but will simply vote for the member of his or her party for U.S. Senate.

Although party loyalty is important, sometimes a full appreciation for a candidate can’t be understood without doing research as to why he or she deserves to be in office.

Elizabeth Dole, serving five U.S. presidents, is second to no candidate in political experience. Senator Dole has spent her entire career as a servant to the people, and her re-election will allow her to continue to do great things while serving North Carolina.

On election day, I implore you to not vote just for the Republican or the Democrat, but to choose the right candidate: Elizabeth Dole.

Daniel Rowe
Reidsville

This past week the Senate voted not to stop the 10.6 percent cut to Medicare providers beginning July 1, and a subsequent 5.4 percent cut in January. The laughable title of Bill HR 6331 is “Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008.” Senator Burr (R-NC) voted to allow the cuts.

The bill failed by one vote and will come up for a final vote after the July 4 recess. If the cuts go into effect, it will be even more difficult for Medicare patients to find physicians to care for them.
For several years, doctors got a mere one percent increase in reimbursements. The cost of practicing medicine has gone up far more than that. The formula on which the cuts were based was not only seriously flawed, it was stupid.

I urge any patient receiving Medicare benefits to call Senator Burr and urge him to change his vote. Write him now or call him later when you can’t find a physician to care for you. Maybe he will get up in the middle of the night to take out your gallbladder. Contact him at http://burr.senate.gov

Stuart Glassman, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Hendersonville

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Charles Flink

An editorial on June 22 suggests that the Downtown Greenway be separated from the transportation bond referendum because it is not a “conventional street” and therefore is assumed not to be a transportation solution.

The U.S. DOT, the Federal Highway Administration, N.C. DOT and the Greensboro DOT jointly recognize the tremendous value that a project like the Greenway has on the timely, safe and efficient travel of people. Section 1202 of the Transportation Equity Act recommends that all transportation projects incorporate bicycling and walking into conventional project development.

A 1999 FHWA memorandum to engineers across the nation “reaffirms our commitment to improving conditions for bicycling and walking,” and states “non-motorized modes are an integral part of the mission and critical element of local, regional and national transportation systems.”

A 2000 policy of the N.C. Board of Transportation “strongly reaffirms (our) commitment to improving conditions for bicycling and walking” and encourages North Carolina cities to make bicycling and walking an integral part of transportation systems. Greensboro adopted a Bicycle, Pedestrian and Greenway Master Plan in which the Downtown Greenway was defined as a high-priority project and important for addressing residents’ unmet transportation needs.

The Downtown Greenway is an essential component of transportation infrastructure. As it is developed, it will offer non-motorized, nonpolluting, healthy and affordable transportation for thousands of residents. It will become as valuable as any given street in the city.

With high gas prices, Greensboro voters deserve the opportunity to vote for an “unconventional” transportation solution that provides a fair choice in commuting among popular destinations.
The Greenway is a valued element of the transportation bond and is much needed at a time when our conventional “pay at the pump” alternative is rapidly escalating beyond the reasonable financial means of community residents.

Charles Flink is president of Greenways, Inc., in Durham, which helped develop the Downtown Greenway plan.

Last week, the world, except us, commemorated the World Day against Torture. On the same day, we held congressional hearings on what constituted torture and debated to what degree punishing physically and mentally another human was allowed legally!

Yet our local news paid no attention in editorial positions. Not print, not radio, not television. The public was mostly silent. The “family virtues” crowd was not heard from.

The two principal proponents of torture have no record of service in the armed forces. These same defenders of inhumane treatment (as long as it does not damage an organ!) are the proponents of protecting national values!

There were no sermons about inhumane treatment of fellow humans.

There was no outrage that, in the 21st century, we have allowed our country to be less than the best.

No member of Congress elected from North Carolina protested the outrage.

There is no outrage that we have allowed bad leadership to suggest the destruction of interrogators’ notes before court cases.

There is no outrage that our standing as the leader in advocating and protecting human rights is tarnished and suspect.

Where is the outrage?

David P. Haxton
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Lawrence L. Shornack

In a recent column, Doug Clark wrote: “Anyone familiar with middle schoolers could attest to their hostile and abusive nature. Gather two dozen of them in a classroom and match them in an adversarial relationship against a lone teacher, and there’s no contest.” Actually, it was only intrusive decisions by “progressive” Supreme Court justices that “liberated” many students from restraints on their inclinations to antisocial behavior.

In Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), the court ruled that in punishing students for wearing black arm bands to protest the Vietnam War, the school had infringed on the students’ free-speech rights. Dissenting, Justice Hugo Black contended that the court’s decision had “surrender(ed) control of the American public school system to public school students. Once a society that generally respected the authority of teachers, deferred to their judgment, and trusted them to act in the best interests of school children, we now accept defiance, disrespect and disorder … in our public schools.”

Goss v. Lopez (1975) concerned a principal who suspended students whom he had witnessed fighting in the school lunchroom. The court ruled that he had violated the students’ due-process rights because he had not held a hearing with witnesses before issuing the punishment. Such rulings created the adversarial climate in the public schools.

Professor Richard Arum of the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University examined every court case in which schools have had to defend their disciplinary procedures. Before 1965, there was only a handful of such legal challenges; between 1965 and 1992, there were more than 1,500. “Clearly,” he said, “just the threat of lawsuits restrains teachers and administrators from taking charge in their classrooms and schools.”

Research has shown that disadvantaged inner-city students perform significantly better academically in Catholic schools, at less cost than public schools; discipline, safety and traditional curriculum evidently make the difference. And American students in general usually score just average on international tests.

If you are dissatisfied with the state of the public schools (or crime or poverty or child rape) — or if you fear for realms where judges have not yet imposed their progressive ideology — note that a Democratic president will almost certainly be able to ensure a progressive Supreme Court majority for decades to come.

The writer lives in Madison.

A few weeks ago, Sens. Clinton, McCain and Obama made a joint statement condemning the genocide in Darfur and saying the United States should do more to end the violence. This was the first time since World War II that all major presidential candidates had come together on a foreign policy issue.

Although the United States officially called the violence in Darfur genocide long ago, we continue to talk instead of putting real pressure on the Sudanese government and its supporter, China, to end it. In July 2007 the United Nations promised 17,000 additional peacekeepers for Darfur, and one year later only 2,100 have been deployed.

President Bush needs to hear that the United States must put pressure on the Sudanese government or we will be guilty of not doing enough to end one of the greatest tragedies of modern times. This from a country that claims to be a moral leader in the world.

With the presidential election, it will be hard to keep Darfur in the news, but the genocide will not pause until after the election. To find out more about Darfur and what you can do to help, go to www.savedarfur.org.

Sue Jezorek
Greensboro

Hey Mike:

You forgot your manners.

I didn’t receive my personal thank-you note or, at the very least, a postcard from Italy with the standard “weather’s great; the Italian scenery is magnificent; the food, sumptuous; hotels are first-class; and I can’t say enough about our rental car! Wish you were here. ...”
Me, too, Mike, me too!

Patricia McCormack
Greensboro

Instead of addressing the real issues behind the achievement gap between the races — the breakdown of the family structure in the black community, “the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white,” ill-prepared teachers and the “soft bigotry of low expectations” by those teachers and administration — we begin a cavalcade of excuses and rhetoric.

I’m sure you have heard the excuses:

1. Standardized tests are biased toward whites (which does not explain why Asian Americans and other immigrant students still perform well on them).

2. Standardized tests are over-emphasized. Eliminating standardized tests in this instance will only reinforce the stereotype that blacks just can’t meet the mark academically. This type of “soft thinking” will not prepare our kids for the global economy in which our country competes.

There has to be a “cultural overhaul” within the black community. We must reinstate family values and remove the disdain for education that permeates our culture. We must stop looking for the school board or taxpayers to provide answers for our children.

A fusion of stronger parenting and a focus on academic success will help nullify the dropout rate, crime rate and, subsequently, the achievement gap.

David Wynn
Greensboro

Point: Tax bills come out in July for Guilford County and its incorporated communities, the newest being the Cardinal.

Point: You can appeal your tax-assessed value, based most recently on the required 2004 revaluation. But, why?

Point: If you’re concerned about your tax bill, the Tax Department is not your target. Because the tax burden is increased by us, not them. Hello?

Point: The most recent tax increases — county and city — were a demand to your commissioners and council members, because you/we voted that increase into place. They are legally bound, as is the county manager, the city manager, the Board of Commissioners and the City Council, to implement what we, the voters, have agreed to and demanded that they implement.

Point: Property values are falling. Property taxes are rising. Forty-three percent of the county’s citizens own real estate. Fifty-seven percent do not. The recent multimillion-dollar bond vote won by 55 percent. Do the math. Why not vote in more “gimmes” if you don’t have to pay for them?

When the tax bills come out, don’t call the Tax Department. Don’t call your commissioner or council person. Call your neighbor … and talk about how we did this to ourselves. Point taken?

Lonnie Groendes
Greensboro

Regarding Roberta Spillane’s letter (June 23): If she is truly interested in voting for a candidate who has raised the minimum wage to help working families make ends meet, taken care of our veterans and laid out a plan to lower gas prices, she should take a look at Kay Hagan.

Kay has shown real courage by voting to increase the state minimum wage. She has shown true dedication to our brave men and women in the armed forces by pledging her support for better benefits and a new GI Bill. And she has shown real leadership with her comprehensive energy plan that will lower prices for consumers while reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Spillane is correct: North Carolina does need a strong voice in the Senate. We need Kay Hagan’s clear and consistent voice to fight for us in Washington.

Nicole Dougherty
Kernersville

Cal Thomas has peeled back a layer of Barack Obama, revealing a “false prophet” (June 14). You can’t deny the basic tenets of the Christian faith and be a Christian. How Obama achieves his salvation is between him and his maker. He’s just selected a difficult path.

But it really sounds as if he has absorbed more than his share after 20 years of listening to the vituperative, vitriolic venom in Jeremiah Wright’s Emporium of Pernicious Prevarications.

Like most of his positions, which are based on ignorance and inexperience, this is but one more example. He is like a shiny red Ferrari with nothing under the hood. Just another empty suit.

Thanks, Cal, for telling it like it is.

Bob Guertin
Jamestown

Regarding the letter on Sen. Elizabeth Dole: She is not “caving in” to big oil companies concerning her reconsideration of offshore drilling on the North Carolina coast. She is “caving in” to the thousands of residents of North Carolina who have written to her requesting relief and alternatives to our dependency on foreign oil. She listens to us and is not concerned with biased liberal newspaper opinion such as the Associated Press.

I am glad she shares my concerns and acts on my request as a resident of the U.S.A. She works hard in the Senate for the people and best interests of North Carolina. We need to keep her there.

Beverly Grenier
Greensboro

I understand Sen. Richard Burr voted no on the Save Medicare Act of 2008, which would reverse the proposed 10.6 percent cut in Medicare/TRICARE payments to doctors and replace it with a 1.8 percent payment increase.

As a ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, he should know that military beneficiaries would be affected even more severely by these cuts, because rates for military health insurance, TRICARE, are based on Medicare rates and in many cases are below those of Medicare.

More cuts in payments to doctors would devastate seniors’ and all military beneficiaries’ access to health care by encouraging even more doctors to stop seeing Medicare and TRICARE patients.

This issue is a particular problem for retirees who don’t live near military installations. In those areas, such as Greensboro, many doctors already refuse to see new TRICARE or Medicare patients. With these cuts, even more doctors likely will be forced to take this step. As a senior, and a veteran, I have a vested interest in this legislation. As one of his constituents, I must ask how Burr, a professed supporter of veterans, can justify voting against this vital veterans’ health legislation.

Portia R. McCracken
Greensboro

The writer is a lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force (retired).

The following is a Counterpoint:

By Michael Mattingly, M.D.

Wow! Taxing medication samples that are given to patients for free. It’s hard to believe the N.C. Department of Revenue has stooped to this.

Let’s think about this for a minute. Free samples are provided to doctors’ offices by pharmaceutical companies that already have paid a tax on the medications. Doctors then distribute those medications for free to patients for a number of reasons.

Frequently, they are used when starting a patient on a new medication to see if he will tolerate it before he spends a small fortune on it. At other times, doctors use them as the only source of medication for patients who cannot afford them. In these situations, sample medications can truly be lifesaving (a lot of my dialysis patients rely on them exclusively).

Doctors’ offices are faced with decreased reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies while at the same time overhead expenses are increasing by near double-digit levels on a yearly basis. And now, a tax on free medications for patients.

If this truly happens, doctors’ offices will no longer accept free samples and, therefore, will be unable to provide them to patients whose lives sometimes depend on them.

So, in the end, who loses? The patients (and residents) of North Carolina and Guilford County.
Does that make sense to anyone?

What’s next, Department of Revenue? A tax on doctors for all the free care they provide on the basis of “phantom income”? Are you really thinking this through?

I’ve got a medication that may make you think more clearly but, unfortunately, I no longer have any samples to give you.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

I am shocked at the number of so-called employment opportunities out there that require YOU to pay to work for them.

Recently, a friend responded to a job he found listed and was contacted for an interview. He went, and there was a group of 30 other people. There was a well-dressed gentleman and an erase-board presentation without brochures and with very little information about the company other than lip service. They were to come in the next day for a one-day training session and bring $395 cash or money order for this company to set up a Web site and 800 number.

People, please consider that most companies pay you to work for them and please do your homework as my friend did. Go to scamreports.com and the Better Business Bureau to find any complaints. These scam artists are there to take your very last dollar and offer you no support whatsoever.

Our friend had his friend from Texas actually go to the office of this person and it was nothing like he had described. So, please, do your homework first!

Kay Sigmon
Greensboro

Regarding Harvey Herman’s letter (June 27), I take John McCain’s statement about not loving America until he was deprived of it to mean: “Even though I am from a military family, graduated from the Naval Academy and served in the Navy, I took my country for granted until my five-year stay in the Hanoi Hilton.”

How many of us take people, places or things for granted until they are gone? I think Sen. McCain meant exactly what he said, and I salute him for saying it.

Jane Lewis
Burlington

In her “Your Weekend” column (News & Record, June 26), Carolyn Booth laments, “Many people have never felt the pull of a fish at the end of a line.”

But what is that pull, so beloved by fishermen? Is it not an animal fighting for its life? Doesn’t that animal want to live as badly as I do?

We have so many positive associations with fishing — happy days with Granddad; Andy and Opie at Myers Lake. It seems so wholesome, almost perfectly opposite of a gun in your daughter’s classroom, crack dealers and teen pregnancy pacts.

But hurting living things is not wholesome, and it should not be fun. Plato, in his “Apology,” tells us that Socrates said that the life that is unexamined is not worth living. I have no doubt that Socrates was referring to the things that are really tough to examine: ideas long cherished but with disturbing contradictions lurking beneath the dark waters of our comfortable notions.

Many people were long comfortable with the idea of Indians and slaves and Chinamen being subhuman and unable to suffer.

Larry Surber
Stoneville

I thought it surprising that this newspaper saw fit to publish Tom Imbus’ incoherent tirade relating to Mike Easley’s views on offshore oil drilling (June 30).

The question Imbus first purports to address is the workability of offshore drilling as a solution to the present energy crisis. He then drops the issue entirely, presumably because Easley, by and large, is correct: Using up the little we’ve got offshore will not solve the persistent problem of our oil addiction.

Imbus then attacks Easley’s consumption habits to justify his insupportable position through tu quoque finger-pointing. The figures he cites are not relevant; though costing taxpayers thousands, the amenities and lodging Easley enjoyed on his trip did little to sap oil reserves: “How much fuel was depleted when $51,000 of our money was spent on a chauffeured Mercedes to transport you and your wife?” Well, none, to be precise.

I am just as much offended by our government’s waste as anyone. But please, pick a complaint and stick with it! And don’t drag in topics where they have no place. The energy crisis is serious business. It oughtn’t be used as ammunition for partisan mudslinging.

Jonathan Storch
Greensboro

Maureen Parker writes (June 28): “Why do we suffer ... I have no idea.”

Physical suffering has never come as a detriment to our soul’s growth. Our truest suffering is mental and spiritual — touching our soul. God gives us a “lens” to measure this by: It is a lens through which the light of God’s divine love shines. It is a lens that can suit the needs of all — regardless of religious or other claims — in that it weighs those things that cause us to be ill at ease against what illuminates us to inner peace, bliss and eternal happiness. Beyond all suffering, there’s a citadel for our soul.

Ray Hylton
Greensboro

Once again, Jim Schlosser has written a great article about a great bunch of guys. I am referring to the article about Style & Cut on the front page June 30. I have been having my hair cut there for more than 30 years. My wife will only let Ron cut her hair.

Once when I had neck surgery and could not shave due to being in a hard brace, I had Ron shave me. Boy, did I feel better. We lived in Wake Forest for three years and always drove to Greensboro to have our haircuts done at Style & Cut.

I have found that when you leave Style & Cut, besides looking better, you always feel a little better.

Woody Grady
High Point

As I watch the news on TV and read the papers, I have seen or heard seven dangerous mistakes many people make.

Here they are:
1. Trying to be happy through owning something.
2. Trying to despise people because they do not agree with you.
3. Trying to dispose of our troubles by worrying over them.
4. Trying to change the world to suit our pet theory.
5. Trying to silence people who do not think as we think.
6. Trying to make sins beautiful by giving them beautiful names.
7. Trying to satisfy God with fine words instead of fine living.

Nick Nicholson
McLeansville

The News & Record is to be commended for helping to bring our ethnically diverse community closer together and for helping us get to know some minorities who we would not normally take time out of our busy lives to meet.

Once a week now, in a special article, I can always see at least one or two pictures of black or Hispanic youth whom I otherwise might never have known. The article also gives me a nice little bio of the young person, including where they are from and some of their recent activities. The article also states that its publication has been responsible for many of these young folks stepping forward and agreeing to become even more involved in community service. I feel enriched and enlightened by this piece.

However, I would like to suggest one enhancement. In order that outsiders do not get the wrong impression of the Triad area, you should call the article something other than “Guilford County’s Most Wanted.”

John Roberts
Reidsville

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Tony Watts

As California goes?

While many North Carolinians applaud the legalization of gay marriage in California, they don’t seem to realize the impetus behind the decision and the impact it could have nationwide. It reflects not only a shift in law, but how law is determined in our postmodern age. Rather than reflecting the moral absolutes provided by the traditional Judeo-Christian worldview, the ruling reflected a philosophy in which the existence of God is denied and relative moral guidelines shrewdly mask the oppressive power(s) that be.

That is exactly what we see in California as the powerful gay lobby forces not only its view of morality on the rest of us, but, more seriously, its view of God — namely, his nonexistence.
So, knowingly or not, the California Supreme Court ruled in perfect step with atheist Michael Onfray’s book in which he noted his disdain for the same Judeo-Christian worldview upon which our entire legal system actually stands.

Citing the disallowance of “religious symbols” in French courthouses, Onfray expressed his disdain for the fact that modern “law” still hinges on a biblical worldview. “The absence of a cross in the courtroom,” he says, “does not guarantee a judiciary that is independent with respect to the dominant religion,” and here he means Christianity. “For the very foundations of judicial logic proceed from chapter 3 of Genesis …” (from “Atheist Manifesto”).

His point is that no matter how much we claim to have eliminated religion from the public sector, almost everything in society is still foundationally Christian.

That is the real issue with the California Supreme Court’s decision. Defining marriage between a man and woman would have reflected the same Judeo-Christian mind-set against which Onfray and supporters of the modern gay movement so adamantly militate. So, apparently, in compliance with the new godless philosophy, California’s high court did its best to stay as far away from that biblical standard as possible. This gay marriage “license,” then, only distances our nation, its laws and marriage from a biblical influence. It’s a move that atheistic thinkers everywhere applaud.

Let it never be said that North Carolinians possess a Californian-like disdain for the God of the Bible from which traditional morality and marriage emerged in the first place. Instead, I really hope that North Carolinians and their legislators see the vital link between God, morality and law. If not, as California went, we may soon follow.

Tony Watts is a freelance writer in Thomasville.

After reading the paper one day recently, I headed out for my walk. I decided to do the longer route, and in reverse, tackling the hill on Garden Lake Drive early in the routine. What a shock! I thought the development on the corner of New Garden Road and Garden Lake Drive affected only the entrance to that neighborhood. The trees have started to come down and the devastation goes back at least three houses on both sides of Garden Lake Drive.

I was never able to attend the City Council meetings concerning this development. I did e-mail members of the City Council that I was opposed to any more development along New Garden Road, and I am sure I am not alone in feeling that council members couldn’t care less what I want.

I live in a small neighborhood off New Garden, and the only thing that separates one edge of our neighborhood from New Garden is a small undeveloped lot. I hope the owner never sells it!
In fact, maybe the owner would like to set up an outside museum on that lot of all the trees, flora and fauna that have been removed from New Garden Road.

Georgie Leventhal
Greensboro

I need not enumerate the failures, scandals and greed we have endured under neoconservative “leardership.” More than 70 percent of Americans think we’re going down the wrong road economically and in the Iraqi quagmire.

Here are some facts to consider before voting for McCain:
• Once considered a “maverick,” McCain has flip-flopped on almost every issue. He voted against tax breaks for the wealthy; now he wants to make “trickle down” permanent.
• He was against torture until he voted for it.
• He called the religious right “agents of intolerance” until he needed their votes and cash.
• His campaign is run by corporate lobbyists including Charlie Black (Google him).
• He thinks the Supreme Court was wrong to uphold habeas corpus for military detainees.
• He has made it clear that he wants to attack Iran and considers diplomacy useless (wait till you see how much gas costs after that!).
• He thinks that Americans losing their homes should “get a second job and forgo vacations” and that the “free market” will bring affordable health insurance to all (right!).

Old, out of touch, and a George Bush clone — that’s bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran McCain!

Michael Northuis
Greensboro

I suspect City Council members “Tricky” Mike Barber and “Bow-wow” Trudy Wade may have recently conspired to give Councilman Robbie Perkins a “hard time!”

A news story (June 26) points to “Tricky” Mike writing a memo to City Manager Mitch Johnson stating: “It appears a council member factored incentives into a land deal, went directly to staff..., lobbied other council members...,” etc.!

Apparently, one of the “others” allegedly lobbied is none other than “Bow-wow” Trudy.
Well, Robbie says he did no such thing.

And Mitch says Mr. Perkins followed the council’s standard procedures in line with North Carolina conflict-of-interest law.

And Mayor Yvonne Johnson says, “I don’t think Mr. Perkins is someone who would be doing something illegally or underhandedly.”

So I suggest that “Tricky” and “Bow-wow” take a vacation “break” from the stress of public service and raw politicking. Perhaps they could go — separately, of course — to public beaches and play with sea shells for awhile.

Bill Burnett
Greensboro

I suspect City Council members “Tricky” Mike Barber and “Bow-wow” Trudy Wade may have recently conspired to give Councilman Robbie Perkins a “hard time!”

A news story (June 26) points to “Tricky” Mike writing a memo to City Manager Mitch Johnson stating: “It appears a council member factored incentives into a land deal, went directly to staff..., lobbied other council members...,” etc.!

Apparently, one of the “others” allegedly lobbied is none other than “Bow-wow” Trudy.

Well, Robbie says he did no such thing.

And Mitch says Mr. Perkins followed the council’s standard procedures in line with North Carolina conflict-of-interest law.

And Mayor Yvonne Johnson says, “I don’t think Mr. Perkins is someone who would be doing something illegally or underhandedly.”

So I suggest that “Tricky” and “Bow-wow” take a vacation “break” from the stress of public service and raw politicking. Perhaps they could go — separately, of course — to public beaches and play with sea shells for awhile.

Bill Burnett
Greensboro

After listening to Gov. Mike Easley stutter and stammer through a laughable explanation of two costly “jaunts” taken by him and his wife at the taxpayers’ expense, I have this to say: Easley should apologize to the public, take out his personal checkbook and donate $279,000 (the total of the two trips) to any of the following worthy recipients:

• the struggling North Carolina homeowners facing foreclosure;

• any food bank in the state;

• Habitat for Humanity;

• the North Carolina state budget.

The last choice might be the best since Gov. Easley has announced “a small downturn in revenue” regarding the state’s coffers.

If the elected officials of North Carolina routinely abuse the state’s treasury in the manner that Gov. Easley has, it would explain the present shortfall of funds.

In the times that we are now living, no one has the right to waste 1 cent of taxpayers’ money. I repeat, no one!

Eileen Thiery
Stokesdale

I found it interesting that on the same day Edgar Phillips’ letter appeared bemoaning tax rates on stocks and bonds if Barack Obama gets elected (July 1), the financial headlines were “Stocks off $2.1 trillion this year” and “June was the worst month since the Depression.”
Phillips wants us to teach our children how important stocks and bonds are to their financial success, and I agree with that. However, taxes are the tail of the dog.

First, you need to make money on your investments. During the 7.5 years of the Bush administration, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 stocks is up a total of approximately 4 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 is down more than 6 percent and the Nasdaq is down more than 17 percent. It should be noted that the DJIA has averaged increases of more than 8 percent a year over the last 100 years, so a 4 percent increase over 7.5 years is poor.

Personally, I would rather teach my children to recognize the importance of a thriving economy where everyone prospers and the markets go up. Then we’ll pay our share of taxes but still be ahead of the game. The current approach sure isn’t working, despite the lower taxes.

L.F. Rappaport
Greensboro

I found it interesting that on the same day Edgar Phillips’ letter appeared bemoaning tax rates on stocks and bonds if Barack Obama gets elected (July 1), the financial headlines were “Stocks off $2.1 trillion this year” and “June was the worst month since the Depression.”

Phillips wants us to teach our children how important stocks and bonds are to their financial success, and I agree with that. However, taxes are the tail of the dog.

First, you need to make money on your investments. During the 7.5 years of the Bush administration, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 stocks is up a total of approximately 4 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 is down more than 6 percent and the Nasdaq is down more than 17 percent. It should be noted that the DJIA has averaged increases of more than 8 percent a year over the last 100 years, so a 4 percent increase over 7.5 years is poor.

Personally, I would rather teach my children to recognize the importance of a thriving economy where everyone prospers and the markets go up. Then we’ll pay our share of taxes but still be ahead of the game. The current approach sure isn’t working, despite the lower taxes.

L.F. Rappaport
Greensboro

The letter (June 28) by Bob Page, “Are millions best spent opposing gay marriage?” was right on. There are many other ways to spend $10 million.

A letter the same day by Robert Hege argues, “Only man and woman can have children.” Maybe Hege and I were lucky to have a mother and father, but stop and think. Maybe two men or two women could adopt some of the homeless or poor children. Not all mothers and fathers are good parents. Hege says to look at the animal kingdom, but I wonder, as I see how some children are treated by mothers and fathers.

I am sure our Lord is disappointed in many things, such as war, poverty, etc., and, if you look hard enough, there are many things in the Bible we as Christians do not obey.

Whether you and I are for or against gay marriage, I still believe $10 million could be better spent.

Joan Helsens
Jamestown

If there ever were a Nobel for squandering our tax dollars, the prize would easily go to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for another of her costly, never-ending trips to our “bosses,” that is, the state of Israel.

She will go down in history as “the most known government official frequent traveler on the same mission without accomplishing anything.”

Recently, Israel announced the building of another 1,300 houses in East Jerusalem, a part of Palestine taken from its people (New York Times, June 14). As an excuse, Israeli officials stated, “... it is land we have already annexed in the past.”

How would our servile (to Israel and its lobby) U.S. government react if Mexico decided to “annex” a piece of Arizona to settle a few Mexican nationals?

It takes no Einstein to figure that out.

Helio Salvador
Greensboro

Even more frightening than Cal Thomas’ narrow views (Charles Ward’s Counterpoint, June 26) is the reality that God will judge the world and all human beings who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. (See Hebrews 10:26-31.)

The writer appears to be offended by Thomas’ strong conviction that his God is the true God. And, of course, that is understandable if one assumes that the correct concept of God is that he is “out there somewhere” and has not really revealed himself to mankind and, therefore, any one person’s concept of God is just as good as any other’s.

Some may say that as long as you have faith in a God, even in just one God, that’s all that matters. But of course faith is really not the main issue at all. The veracity of the object of our faith is what really counts.

Cal Thomas, and many millions of other people, are so certain that the God of the Bible is the one true God because the evidence is overwhelming. There is more historical evidence that Jesus lived, died and rose again than of any other historical fact before his birth.

Jon Cage
Jamestown

Some members of the Bush administration are upset about the sham elections in Zimbabwe and are calling for sanctions.

I don’t think that Saudi Arabia has ever had national elections (sham or otherwise). How about sanctions against the Saudi dictatorship?

Communist China spies on our government, forces women to have abortions, executes political prisoners, controls Tibet and supports Zimbabwe. How about sanctions against the Chinese dictatorship? How about sanctions against North Korea?

For some reason, “our” federal government has a hypocritical foreign policy that is full of double standards. Our country should have a standardized foreign policy that opposes all dictatorships and supports democracy in all countries.

Chuck Mann
Greensboro

In reaction to the death of hate-mongering Jesse Helms, George Bush referred to the former U.S. senator as a “kind and decent man” and a “great patriot.”

Jesse Helms was so “kind and decent” that he was a staunch opponent of the civil rights movement, a noble movement for equality and justice to end apartheid, U.S.-style. Helms opposed the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act and “justified” these actions of hatred in defense of what he called “the Southern way of life” — meaning the degradation, oppression and second-class citizenship of the African American people, all enforced by terror and violence.

George Bush once again turns history on its head, just as he has done by invoking “patriotism” to justify lying his way into the war in Iraq on behalf of the big oil industry and its profits, resulting in the killing of more than 4,000 U.S. troops, the maiming of tens of thousands more and the murder of close to one million innocent Iraqi people.

The literary giant Samuel Johnson coined the phrase, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Bush and Helms practiced it.

Mark Dimondstein
Greensboro

Could someone please answer the question for me: What exactly did Jesse Helms accomplish for the people of North Carolina in 30 years?

If memory serves me, he did about as much in 30 years as Elizabeth Dole has done in the last six years: Nothing! I will give him credit for one thing over Liddy: at least he lived here once in a while.

Jim Galler
Stokesdale

When I was on the board of directors of First American Savings Bank and chairman of its Audit Committee, we had many business dealings with Sandra Anderson Groat (who was then Sandra Anderson). It was part of my duties to meet frequently with our loan officer and to become familiar with where our loans were placed.

Our loan officer once told me that if all of our loans were placed with people and companies like Sandra and her company, there would be no problems. He introduced me to her, and I decided that he was right.

She is not only a fine person, but her company has achieved untold success in bringing homeownership to many, many people who would not have it but for her.

When I read that the current upheaval in the housing market has made her business no longer viable (July 4), I was almost sick. This is a sad day for Greensboro.

Jack Elam
Greensboro

In the mold of the Founding Fathers of our great nation, Sen. Jesse Alexander Helms will long be remembered. He was truly a patriot, a hero to many, and a courtly Southern gentleman. Our world has lost one of its best.

Helms’ dedication to our country and his loyalty to we, the people, shall never be forgotten.

It was a privilege to meet and know him and his wonderful wife, Dorothy, and family. They are a tribute to what is good about America. Our hearts go out to his family and to our country on the tragic loss of this fine statesman.

He shall go down in history along with two other giants, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who left this world for a better place on July Fourth.

Dorothy Bursey
Sanford

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Tom Boney Jr.

The News & Record just couldn’t resist using — twice, once in a story and again in an editorial — a well-worn but incendiary canard as a parting shot after the death of former Sen. Jesse Helms, a long-standing nemesis of liberals.

In story and editorial, the example of the so-called “white hands” commercial used in the 1990 Helms campaign — termed “notorious” (news story) and an appeal to “racial fears” (editorial) — lacked critically important context.

Such opinionated descriptions underscore how difficult it is to keep long-standing political opponents, including liberal journalists, from trying to redefine and mischaracterize Helms’ positions, his electoral success and his legacy, by layering on racial overtones.

Here’s the key piece of missing background: President George H.W. Bush had vetoed legislation that posed as new civil rights legislation shortly before the 1990 election.

In his veto statement, Bush said that “despite the use of the term ‘civil rights’ in the (title), the bill actually employs a maze of highly legalistic language to introduce the destructive force of quotas into our nation’s employment system.” Helms opposed the bill and supported Bush’s veto; Harvey Gantt had criticized Helms’ position and said he favored the bill.

The commercial was a fact-based, issue-oriented ad that highlighted stark differences between the candidates based on a public policy issue, not either candidate’s race.

Since 1990, the Supreme Court has generally found that race-based policies and practices (such as admission standards to the University of Michigan) may not give preference to one race over another — through quotas, for instance — which is precisely the position Helms championed.

Most North Carolinians — black and white, liberal and conservative — continue to oppose affirmative action and racial quotas, the stand Helms took in 1990, even if the News & Record supports them.

Tom Boney Jr. is editor and publisher of The Alamance News. He worked for 12 years with Sen. Helms between 1976 and 1990, including stints on the staff of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Committee on Foreign Relations.

We received news of the passing of Sen. Jesse Helms July 4. The comments on his life will be many and varied. I feel strongly moved to tell our story.

On Saturday evening, Jan. 21, 1978, Helms spoke at a rally in the Elon College gymnasium. During the evening, he heard that our father, Henry Danieley, was in Memorial Hospital and seriously ill. He sent a messenger to ask me if he might visit our father. I agreed and went to the hospital to prepare Daddy for the visit, which came at about 10 p.m. Needless to say, Daddy was highly pleased to see Sen. and Mrs. Helms.

Our father died later that week. A few nights after that, when the word had reached Helms, he called me at home to talk about Daddy and to express his sympathy to me and our family.

Quite a number of months later, our mother passed away. Word reached the senator and, again, he called to express his condolences.

I shall never forget the kindness and consideration shown to us by this good friend. His respect for our parents and his concern for our family were the marks of a thoughtful and good man.

Earl Danieley
Elon

As the earth warms, so do tempers, evidently. In Jeffrey Smith’s overheated letter (July 4), he blames “environmental wackos” for high energy prices. He may be on to something.

The entrenchment by both sides has prevented the country from reaching an effective energy policy. As long as not believing in global warming is part of conservative orthodoxy and the refusal to consider drilling of any sort, as well as nuclear power, are part of liberal orthodoxy, we’re never going to get anywhere.

Smith cites John F. Kennedy as a model can-do president. It’s a good choice, but I can no more imagine JFK as one of Rush Limbaugh’s fans than I can imagine him one of Michael Moore’s.

What’s needed is a reasonable solution put forth by bold moderates such as President Kennedy. Oh, I forgot. While we wait, perhaps John McCain could get his new evangelical friends to change water into gasoline and diesel fuel.

John Picard
Greensboro

My neighborhood was recently annexed into the city. We have no water, sewer or storm drains. Yet, we have all received a bill for storm runoff.

Nothing in the neighborhood has changed since we were annexed and we’re expected to pay a bill for a prior condition. I was told by city offices the bill pays salaries of engineers who plan for the proper runoff of storm water to protect our drinking water. I am for protecting drinking water, but mine comes from a well. I don’t think the bill was intended to protect the quality of my well water. It sounds more like a tax to me.

I received this bill three days after annexation became effective. Have I been scammed by the city? It said prompt payment would insure no interruption of services. Which services would that be?

Charles A. Newell Jr.
Greensboro

The neocons have devised a way to defeat Obama, and it’s not pretty — creating a stream of war in which we’ll be afraid to switch horses. War is stealthily being launched as it was with Iraq in ’04. You can read the whole story on line in an article titled: “Where Have all the Congressional Consciences Gone?”

I’m referring to resolutions of war pending in Congress — calling for a blockade against Iran on unsupported claims that it is 1) aiding terrorists against America, 2) building WMDs (atom bombs).

The resolution (H. Con. Res. 362 and S. Res. 580) was lobbied by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and co-sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

History is about to repeat itself. Congress is set to pass this legislation that will constitute a de facto authorization for unilaterally waged pre-emptive war, this time on Iran. The neocon-Zionist war-seasoned architects of this resolution are smart enough to know Iran won’t sit quietly watching their diplomats and importers stopped by American forces.

It is your duty to inform yourself about your nation’s plan of criminal aggression, so please read the facts in the Huffington link above and our Web site: Democratswrite.com.

As I said, it’s not pretty.

Dusty Schoch
High Point

By most measures, our country is in dire straits with rapidly rising food and gas prices coupled with a weakening economy, job losses and declining home values. It’s little wonder a recent poll indicates nearly eight in 10 Americans feel we’re headed in the wrong direction.

It’s unnerving that Republican John McCain might be elected in November when his track record indicates he’s not a friend to American workers. For example, what is his record in response to the needs of these workers? He voted against extending unemployment insurance and providing much-needed worker training; providing low-interest loans to workers in job-training programs so they could continue making their mortgage payments; and allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina.

These are not the responses necessary to restore dignity and worth to those who are striving to provide the basics for their families.

From his voting record, there is little evidence that McCain as president would offer viable solutions to an embattled work force.

Bob Kollar
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Joseph E. Lyons

Leonard Pitts’ column (July 3) on the “mockery” of service of military men covers a lot of ground and a lot of individuals, and a lot of descriptions, among which is the term “swift boating.”

“Swift boating” is now revealed truth for the damage done to John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. Swift Boat Veterans, as we remember, challenged the honor of Kerry’s naval service in Vietnam. Contrary to accepted wisdom, the swifties got it right and the record should be reviewed:
• Kerry was accused of lying under oath before Congress. This charge, first levied in 1970, was denied and later admitted by Kerry under the guise of “exaggeration.”
• For years Kerry claimed he “threw” away his medals. He later admitted he had not and they are in fact in his Senate office.
• Kerry claimed he was in Cambodia when he was not.
• His second Purple Heart was bogus, based on the requirements to be eligible for that award.

Kerry served in a war zone, not a full tour, but in combat nonetheless. Many thousands of us did, but most did not feel required to lie about it for personal gain. His actions roused the ire of his fellows at the time and would have passed unnoticed except for his attempt to claim some special privilege to be president by virtue of his service.

Moreover, based on evidence or lack of it, Kerry’s naval service was less than stellar and the details (contained in his fitness reports, never released) would undoubtedly show this. That is why they have never seen the light of day. Fitness reports are the most important documents written about a serving naval officer, reflecting as they do his commanding officer’s opinion of his service.

Awards citations, by contrast, are almost gratuitous and cannot cancel out mediocre fitness reports in front of a Promotion Selection Board. Most importantly, fitness reports rank-order the reported-on officer with his peers, in the opinion of the CO. Be assured if the release of his fitness reports would have furthered his political ambitions, Kerry would have released them long ago. You will look in vain on his Web site for Navy documents relating to his service.

My judgment as one who served in the same Navy in the same Mekong Delta in the same year is that Kerry was a bit of a fraud as a Navy officer, and he deserves the opprobrium brought down on him. In spades.

The writer lives in High Point.

There are fewer and fewer cars on the road with gas prices going higher and higher, and yet we’re building more and more roads. Someone’s out of touch here: legislators, the DOT, local politicians?

North Carolina has plenty of roads, yet we keep building more for the benefit of the trucks, FedEx, PTIA, distressing the people with their noise levels, going through farms and private properties, paid for by our tax money.

Early on, 1989, the Highway Trust Fund set aside $9.2 billion for loops, interstates and maintenance. Gradually that money was “borrowed” for other projects, put in the General Fund, until today we’re talking about using toll booths as the cost of road building rises and many intended projects still are unfinished. In fact, we don’t need more roads — are we in a contest to have the most roads?

Money needs to go for repair: repaving of roads, repair of tunnels, repair of bridges, care of the infrastructure, improving safety. No more roads. Enough gray paving over the beautiful green state of North Carolina!

Gay Cheney
Browns Summit

Readers of the News & Record sometimes voice their dissatisfaction with articles in the paper.

This reader would like to congratulate the person responsible for the Guilford Most Wanted feature. What a success story! A big thank you is in order to all the individuals who contribute to this journalism.

Tom Naylor
Summerfield

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Samuel Johnson

There was a report recently that supposedly showed that black youths lag behind in school. But I suspect the headline should have been: “Youths from poverty lag behind” or “Boys without fathers lag behind.”

If race-related discrepancies exist in our schools, then, yes, they need to be addressed. Students should be evaluated race-blind. Teachers should have equally high expectations and standards for all their students.

No students should internalize the self-destructive belief, “I’m a black male, so of course I’ll fail in school.” But we will lose the struggle if we don’t concentrate on the big problems: poverty and family decay.

First, fight poverty by finding and imitating successful programs that bring into the economic mainstream the unskilled workers — too many with drug problems, a poor work ethic and habits of petty crime, who are right now a drain on our society, a disaster for themselves and disastrous parents.

Second, teach our young women that it is immoral to condemn themselves to the perpetuation of poverty and their sons to lagging behind in life by bearing unplanned children out of wedlock. The dirty secret is that the badly performing boys in school are overwhelmingly the children of poor, unmarried mothers. Bring back abstinence, bring back contraception, bring back the pill and the condom, allow choice to those for whom choice is ethically acceptable, and if needed, bring back the shotgun. Even bring back shame for the sexually irresponsible!

Third, launch a major effort to bring role models, especially male role models, into the lives of our city’s youths. We try to collect child support from irresponsible dads. Let’s also help those same dads when they are denied access to their sons and let’s encourage dads to want access. Also, let’s support programs like Big Brothers, Big Sisters. We need men from successful, intact families to reach out to children, especially boys.

Fourth, find and imitate successful preschool, school and after-school programs that address the deficits of children of poverty households. We need to help poor parents and grandparents be better parents, and we need activities and programs that offer stimulating, safe and legal play for kids who otherwise are latchkey kids or are hanging out on the street, waiting for gang recruitment.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Regarding Margaret Hartzell’s letter, “Congress must act now to support clean energy” (June 30):
One gets a clue of her bonafides when she invokes the boogie man “Big Oil.” She bemoans the possible cancellation of allegedly “clean-energy projects.” Unfortunately, most Americans are so technically and economically illiterate they probably won’t even question her claims.

Let’s look at one of the environmentalists’ prime accomplishments: ethanol. Only a believer could claim that converting one’s food supply into alcohol and burning it is a good idea. Not only is the available cropland nowhere near adequate, it releases as much carbon into the air as gasoline. Many experts claim that producing ethanol consumes more energy than it produces. Perhaps worst of all, it has caused wholesale destruction of rain forest for the sake of farmland and has caused a worldwide food shortage.

To add even more insult to injury, humongous amounts of our tax money have been shoveled into this environmental black hole to the unjust enrichment of “agribusiness.”

Well-intentioned but ignorant people like Hartzell should do their homework and stop muddying the water with their offal. We all want the same thing, but these half-baked schemes waste resources and distract us from real progress.

Larry Emory
Greensboro

Within my memory, Jesse Helms is the only statesman North Carolina has ever sent to Washington. He was a man with the highest principles.

It is so like your paper to print a comment by Jesse Jackson on the senator’s death. How ironic that a man with no principles is allowed to comment on a man with the highest.

Thomas Harrington
Eden

On July Fourth, we attempted to attend the fireworks at Jamieson Stadium at Grimsley High School. Unfortunately, we were rained out and had to exit with hundreds of others who were hoping to see the spectacle.

During this outing we saw no fewer than 20 to 30 police officers standing by or in their vehicles with their engines running and blue lights flashing.

When we were trying to leave the parking lot in the downpour, there was not a single police officer directing traffic. From what we saw, they were all sitting in their vehicles.

It was dangerous to pull out on to Westover Terrace with limited visibility and heavy traffic. Why should the city taxpayers have to pay for this number of police officers who are unwilling to do their jobs and direct traffic? Why were so many necessary?

Frank and Peggy Smith
Greensboro

Bill Beerman’s letter (July 3), “Congress sets example of fiscal irresponsibility,” closed with the comment, “Our nation and its citizens are the victims.”

Unfortunately, many seem clueless concerning the corruption that exists in local, state and federal governments. The lack of transparency concerning the activities of interest groups/lobbyists adds to the public’s cynicism toward our elections and politicians.

Presently, the lobbyists for the banking, real-estate and construction industries are lobbying the Senate Banking Committee on legislation that should help the homeowners who are facing foreclosure. Congress watchers report that much of this legislation is basically a $300 billion bailout of the lobbyists’ clients. The recipients of much of this money are key members of the above committee who certainly need the “soft” money to help pay for this endless $2 billion farce we call an election.

On Nov. 2, if we follow our usual election patterns, the citizens of this country will re-elect at least 85 percent of the incumbents.

We have seen the enemy and, indeed, they are us.

Bruce McCreedy
Greensboro

Ronald Reagan used to be fond of asking the question, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” I think now would be a good time to ask this same question.

Our homeowners are definitely not better off than they were four years ago. They have seen their homes depreciate in value 15 to 30 percent and in some parts of the country as much as 50 percent. Some people I know have not received an offer at any price.

Secondly, our standard of living has dropped considerably due to the fact that our paychecks have not kept up with the cost of living. In addition, we are having to pay much more for gasoline just to get to work.

Thirdly, our fixed-income friends who worked hard and saved their money have seen the value of their dollar plummet 32 percent.

Are there some of us who are better off than they were four years ago? Well, yes, there are. We have more than 8 million immigrants by some estimates who are living in this country illegally and enjoying the same freedom and many of the same benefits the rest of us enjoy.

Are the Bush-McCain policies working? Clearly, they are not. Do we need a change? You bet, and the sooner the better.

Buck Pate
Greensboro

We had friends visit us from Norway and took them to enjoy the Independence Day parade downtown Greensboro on July 4.

What an embarrassment the parade was to my wife and myself. Very little patriotic music, no local college or high school bands, an overwrought crowd for Obama; hardly a parade to remember what this special day truly means and how we can express our love for our great nation.

As we celebrate our bicentennial, could we not have expressed ourselves in greater fashion?

George Burfeind
Greensboro

This past month I saw 14 different vehicles pull up to a red traffic light, then proceed to turn left while the light was still red. Apparently, there is a new law in Greensboro that I’m not aware of.

Stuart Steele
Greensboro

I thought it was interesting to read about the differences in test scores in our school system. The article indicated that white students did better, but black students did not do as well. Also, the students from other countries (Asian students and others) in the United States were comparable to white students. There seems to be a message here that would walk right back to home life.

Following on this is a young mother, with two children, who has been evicted from her apartment because she had been on maternity leave and couldn’t pay her rent. I never read any mention as to the whereabouts of the children’s father to step in and help.

Will these children wind up with poor test scores someday?

Charles O’Brien
Greensboro

“Probe reveals detainee abuse routine” by Tom Lasseter and “Truth commission needed for torture” by Nicholas Kristof made it very clear that U.S. soldiers have tortured detainees. Many of these prisoners were innocent of involvement in anti-American activities. It is a national disgrace that more than 100 detainees have died in American custody. We need to ask our representatives to investigate those responsible for ordering the use of torture. We Americans used to be able to hold our heads up high, but no more.

In the 1700s, Quaker John Woolman visited slave-holding plantations. His message concerned the spiritual damage being done to the slaveholders as well as to the slaves.

Being tortured is terrible. For our spiritual welfare, supporting a government that tortures is even worse. If we don’t speak up against this abuse, we are part of the problem. All it takes for evil to flourish is for good citizens to stay silent when they know such terrible things are being done.

Emilie and Tom Sandin
Greensboro

L.F. Eason III’s brave and bold refusal to honor Jesse Helms renews my faith in Americans (article, July 9). I hope there are many millions more like him out there who will be sure to show up at the polls in November.

Helms was a disgrace to America as well as to North Carolina and the people who voted for him. His racist, bigoted hate-mongering was, unfortunately, known worldwide. Having lived in England on a job assignment for six years, we were asked by British friends where we were relocating to in the States. Thinking they had never heard of North Carolina, I started to describe its location. They quickly cut me off by saying, “Oh, we heard of that place. That’s where that despicable Helms chap is from, isn’t it?” I was surprised, embarrassed and ashamed to have to admit that they were correct.

Nobody should be forced to “honor” a man of his ilk and destructive beliefs. Our country has been disgraced enough over the past seven-plus years.

J.A. Hunt
Greensboro

So-called liberal voters and legislators don’t understand the issues and legislation they support and fail to anticipate the poor long-range results of their votes. This is called knee-jerk decision-making.

So-called conservative voters and legislators don’t understand the issues and legislation they support and fail to anticipate the poor long-range results of their votes. This is called knee-jerk decision-making.

So-called independents and moderates like to create the illusion that they know more about the issues than liberals and conservatives, trying to appear objective, independent and politically correct, but in fact, they are either closet conservatives or closet liberals.

In the meantime, shrewd political strategists, politicians and activists lead the habitually uninterested, nonvoting and even more uninformed group to register and vote like sheep for candidates who, very possibly, could undermine the principles of freedom, self-government, individual responsibility, opportunity, etc., which still mark the United States as the model of democracy and self-government.

Effective education is a must for our democracy. There is still time to study the issues and make rational, mature voting decisions.

Andrew Symmes
Greensboro

In regard to Charles W. Ward’s Counterpoint (June 26) about Cal Thomas’ (column, June 14) and others with a narrow view: The Bible says, “Broad is the way to destruction. Narrow is the way to life eternal and few there be that find it.”

God is a God of love (He sent Jesus) but also a God of wrath, which is why there’s a hell. (Read the whole Bible if you doubt it.) Whether we believe it or not doesn’t change it.

We all have sinned, must repent and forsake known sin and ask God for salvation. Then we’ll go to heaven upon our death or the return of Jesus; not until we do, however.

Carol M. Pulliam
Oak Ridge

Hurray for the News & Record! Your excellent article July 3 on the Confederate Battle Flag of the 22nd N.C. Regiment was right on target. What a relief to see that hallowed banner presented in its proper and correct context: a banner our brave troops (many N.C. troops) followed during the War for Southern Independence, in which around 40,000 troops gave their lives.

That hallowed banner is one of the most desecrated of all flags, with the Klan, skinheads and other clowns trying to adopt it as their banner.

Again, thank you for a proper presentation of Southern honor and history.

Richard Fields
Pleasant Garden

The heart-wrenching column, “The feared knock on the door” (July 8), by George Will brought to mind, as it has many times before, a statement by Dick Cheney in answer to a question about the worth of the Iraq war. He said, “Yes the war is worth it.”

I’d like for Cheney to tell us just exactly what the “it” is that is so worthwhile. Was the “it” to get rid of Saddam (dubious benefit)? Or was it establishing democracy (a pipe dream so far)? Was it tapping the sea of oil under the sand (supposed to cover the cost of the war; not a dollar)?

Was it to leave a stable Iraq government in place (after seven years, not yet)? Is the enormous loss of life and limb, mental toll, anxiety, grief, monetary cost still worth it to you?

One final question. How much would it be “worth” for you personally to not be the person on the other side of the door when the knock comes?

Dorothy Meehan
Graham

The Senate overwhelmingly passed the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, which provides $300 billion for yet another bailout.

As I began to think about my hard-earned money being swept away, I thought, “Just how much is $300 billion?”

There are 300 million people in America. If half pay taxes, there would be 150 million citizens paying $2,000 (on average) for this act of irresponsibility (by homeowners, lenders and Congress).

I sure could use my $2,000 for my own needs.

If these 150 million taxpayers were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder starting in Washington, D.C., how far would that line reach? Would it reach Chicago? How about California? If the average person’s width were only 2 feet, the line would span more than 56,800 miles! The circumference of the earth is just under 25,000 miles; therefore, this line of taxpayers (including me) would circle the globe more than twice.

Oh yeah, the week before that Congress passed a farming bill for $290 billion, most of which will be sent overseas. We complain about a troubled economy but continue to send our money overseas and to irresponsible people? When will it end?

Charles Wesley Patterson
Winston-Salem

Here’s a kick in your pants to think about: The Greensboro City Council and the county commissioners can just decide without your vote to raise taxes and up go your taxes. Thank you very much.

We seniors cannot handle any more taxes. Those of us on fixed incomes who pay double taxes (Greensboro and Guilford County) also have to eat, pay for medications, heat, etc., just like regular workers. This just kills us.

I’ve never paid so much in taxes in my 70 years of life on this Earth. This has to stop.

We need tax relief. We paid our way, we served our country. How about a military veteran tax break? And a property tax break? Seniors vote, too. What have you really done for seniors?

Those of us on fixed incomes only have so much money. You take it.

I have to live, too.

D. Lee Jacobs
Greensboro

As a Boy Scout working on merit badges for Citizenship in the Nation and Citizenship in the Community, I have been learning about voter registration and our right and responsibility to vote as Americans.

Only 69 percent of North Carolina’s total population was reported registered in 2004. Sixty-six percent of the nation’s population was registered in 2004. Only 58 percent of North Carolina’s total population voted in 2004. Fifty-eight percent of the entire nation’s population voted in 2004. In my opinion, these numbers are low, and yet everyone complains about the economy, gas, energy, the war in Iraq, Iran, China, etc.

I encourage people to vote. It is a right to vote. People who don’t vote, in my opinion, have no reason to complain because they are bystanders when not voting. If you vote, you can complain.

Robert Travis
Jamestown

Concerning the state employee, L.F. Eason III, who refused to lower the flags to honor Jesse Helms, I applaud his efforts. Eason showed us that at least we know where he stood!

Jesse never had a problem astounding us with his narrow-minded, backdated and bigoted views. He knew that there were both consequences and gains to his stances.

Eason made a choice as well and it cost him his job. It affected him and him alone.

Helms cast a negative, backward image on our entire state for more than 30 years, and to suddenly make him a patriot upon his death is wrong. He never had the progressive revelation that even Thurmond and Wallace had in later life.

Thank you, Mr. Eason, for taking a stand.

Kent Benfield
Greensboro

I want to express my appreciation regarding Greensboro police officers Matt O’Hal and J.D. Frazier. One evening in late April, my family was eating dinner at J&S Cafeteria. As my 4-year-old daughter and I were walking back from the restroom into the dining room, my daughter unexpectedly got sick on her stomach. Officers O’Hal and Frazier were getting ready to go into the dining room to eat. These two men were a huge help to us!

They took my daughter to the restroom and, while one stood and held the door open, the other one cleaned up my daughter. We greatly appreciated their concern and assistance. It was really kind and thoughtful of them to stop and help a sick child they didn’t know, on their way to eat dinner, nonetheless! Not to mention the fact that my daughter got to see police officers helping someone in need. What a fine example for her to see.

My family and I can’t say enough how much we appreciated their kindness that evening. I’m very thankful to know that Greensboro has such wonderful police officers working in our city.

Cathy Roberts
Oak Ridge

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Nathan Aaron

In response to the Counterpoint, “Gay marriage ruling repudiates God” (July 8), what the writer, Tony Watts, fails to realize is that not everyone believes in the same version of God.

Simply because his “North Carolina version of God” does not mesh with a “California God version” does not mean Californians have removed God from their political and personal lives.

My God promises true love, hope and faith — not bigotry and hatred disguised as “Christian love.” Furthermore, I tire of the black-and-white approach to either being “all in God” or an atheist.

Being gay, and also believing in gay marriage, does not remove God from the picture. I happen to be a Christian, gay man, and I know of many gay people who also attend church regularly. Simply because we don’t believe in Watts’ version of God, and that politics should be religiously influenced, doesn’t, therefore, make us atheists.

People fear what they do not understand. Unfortunately, for the majority, most choose not to learn with an open mind, but instead to spread their fear to others.

I have to find it rather ironic that sitting above Watts’ Counterpoint was a letter to the editor, “Thanks for featuring minorities in (the) newspaper,” discussing how the News & Record is providing more ethnically diverse community coverage (and this includes gay people), and an editorial, “Nooses and burning crosses deserve tougher sentences.”

Sometimes I really do wonder if mankind learns from the error of its ways or is simply doomed to repeat them. Times haven’t changed much, have they?

Here’s to hoping that people will.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

The magic of a magnificent public space, darkened for a wonderful movie, is thrilling. “Some Like It Hot” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” did exactly that recently at the Carolina Theatre. This summer, many more movies, both old and new, will fill the theatre with suspense, music, comedy, drama, horror and camp — something for almost everyone.

The magic of the building is clear for new and returning theater patrons. Theater veterans know that new eyes immediately rise to the gilded balcony in the lobby, then to the sprites dancing around the proscenium and to the original chandelier in the auditorium. The magic space that came into being just before the Great Depression remains a magic place today. We must keep it so.

Thanks to the leadership and determination of Betty Cone, Sam Hummel and many more hardworking citizens, the Carolina did not fall victim to time and changing attitudes. Those local heroes saved a treasure that continues to provide a wonderful common space.

Old treasures, of course, do not stay treasures without investment and hard work. The staff, board and the Carolina Theatre’s supporters will continue to fulfill our responsibility to pass the treasure on to future generations.

Charlie Brummitt
Greensboro

The writer is a board member of the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro.

The recent special report on the academic achievement of black males found that a negative national trend has been taking place in the Guilford school system for 22 years! Twenty-two years of failing to teach and retain the youth of any group is unacceptable. Many changes need to take place.

The facts are clearly stated in the report presented on June 23 to the Guilford County school board. It can be obtained at www.gcsnc.com/boe/aa_achievement.htm

On the Web site, the board states a commitment to “Striving. Achieving. Excelling.” It is time for the board to live up to these commitments. Twenty-two years of shame calls for big changes. The youth of this county represent our collective future. We need action to close this gap.

Everyone’s support is crucial. Council and board members from the city and county; leaders from higher education and the corporate sector; parents, recreation centers; public libraries; after-school programs; researchers; teachers; mentors; advocates; coaches; and concerned citizens are needed. Help keep this issue on the agenda for the board and other influential groups in our community by contacting the good people at Greensboro Hive (gsohive.org/contact). Do it!

Kim Cuny
Greensboro

Note to angered “naturists” of San Onofre Beach, Calif., regarding your intention to protest the banning of nude sunbathing by lying down in the sand: Please be certain to lie on your backs.

This will be more in keeping with the proposed “crackdown” threatened by San Onofre Beach officials.

Deborah W. Stanton
Greensboro

On behalf of the members of the N.C. Highway Patrol, I would like to thank the citizens of the Triad who supported the efforts of Chuck and Ed of 93.1 “The Wolf” during their July 11 fundraiser for the baby of slain Trooper D. S. Blanton Jr. I would also like to thank Chuck and Ed, Costco, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and all others who helped make the fundraiser a success.

Law enforcement can often be a thankless and cynical career where officers wonder if their actions are noticed by anyone in the community. All of the officers and troopers who witnessed the unselfish devotion given to the Blantons by the citizens of our community have a new understanding of the support and commitment to us here in the Triad. We thank each of you and we appreciate your support.

Lt. Doug Monroe
Greensboro

The writer is with the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Jesse Helms died at age 86 the same day a local construction worker died at age 42. Mr. Helms, “Senator No,” had the best medical care that our money could buy. The construction worker could not pay and had no medical care at the prevention stage that may have, at a modest cost, saved his life.

With the passing of Senator No, it is now time that we finally say “yes” to give everyone medical care and the privilege to a healthy life while in the pursuit of liberty and happiness. Not only did our construction friend lose his life, but we are now deprived of his construction skills for several decades.

Consider how much the taxpayers will pay just for 12 years education before some other person can grow up to replace him.

Gerald C. Parker
Greensboro

As the old saying goes, “Every little bit helps.” With gasoline prices soaring even higher, here’s a suggestion to save a few dollars:

In neighborhoods across the city, there appears to be an abundance of three-way and four-way stops where they are not entirely needed. Having to stop and restart a 2,500-pound vehicle several times before we even get out of our neighborhoods is playing havoc with our gas mileage.

Where traffic on a primary street has to stop at an intersection where a secondary street comes to an end, perhaps yield signs should temporarily replace those stop signs. Four-way stops need the same treatment; the primary street needs to keep flowing.

In my own experience, having to stop and restart every other block, while pulling a trailer full of lawn equipment for my summer job, has drastically reduced my profits because of the cost of filling up my gas tank these days.

Keeping traffic flowing at a moderate rate, instead of wasting fuel at a stop-and-go rate, would save motorists a few dollars at the pump.

Stefan Prufer
Greensboro

The writer is a sophomore at Clemson University.

Regarding Lorraine Ahearn’s columns concerning Mark Hoffman: Well-done, News & Record. I wish to commend you and particularly Ahearn for the outstanding human interest stories and her thorough investigation about the “Man on the Bench.”

At a time when our headlines are filled with stories about war, the economy, poverty, poor education, housing foreclosures and gasoline prices, it is refreshing to read articles dealing with the lives of individuals and how our community, not only in words but in actions, has responded. Ahearn exemplifies the very best in communicating her stories. They are followed with great interest.

Clara Ellis
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Dr. William S. Bradford

On June 25, Tatiyana Abbott was the last child to be delivered at Annie Penn Hospital’s Birthing Center. For the residents of Reidsville, this event ends a continuity of care that dates back to the very day the hospital opened its doors — ironically on Mother’s Day, May 11, 1930 — the same day Edmund Penn Seay was registered as the first child born there.

A great sense of pride is reflected in that first birth. Not only was his middle name taken from the hospital, but little Edmund was named after Dr. T.W. Edmunds, who became the hospital’s first “manager.”

Perhaps Annie Penn’s greatest moment of maternal pride occurred on May 23, 1946, when Annie Mae Fultz, before the use of fertility drugs, gave birth to identical quadruplets. Due to the extreme rarity of the event, they became poster children for the Pet Milk Co. and went on to grace the cover of Ebony Magazine and to meet President Truman on their fourth birthday in 1950. But national fame aside, that same sense of pride and joy has been experienced by countless Reidsville families in their own private way over the years.

Annie Penn Hospital survived the economic constraints of the Great Depression as well as the extreme shortage of physicians during the war years. It did so by the imaginative and cooperative efforts of many people in the community long before the age of high-priced administrators.

It is ironic, therefore, that Annie Penn’s maternity services could not survive the relative plenty of the corporate partnership years with Moses Cone Health .

Many people throughout the community feel angry and betrayed. They should.

The writer lives in Reidsville.

David Noer’s column (“Change is inexorable: How will we respond?” July 13) questions Wake Forest University’s decision to drop SAT scores as an admission requirement. He thinks Wake’s action exemplifies a drop in standards and a bow to political correctness.

Many years ago my sister taught for Princeton Review, a tutoring firm that guaranteed it could boost a student’s score by at least a hundred points — that is, if you could pay their fees. Some aspects of education are so broken, stupid, or unfair they deserve to be dumped.

The only questions are why it took Wake Forest so long and why the rest of higher education doesn’t follow.

Similarly, it has taken us decades to realize we have “an energy problem.” Among the last to learn are our president and the stray idiot still driving his Hummer on I-40. But even now, the Republican answer is to support the oil industry’s search for more oil so our local fool can continue to drive at 70 mph.

How patient should the younger voting generation be? Should they worry that the ruling generation lacks judgment and skill, as well as imagination?

Andrew Young
Greensboro

Thank you for printing a fine article, “It’s in the Constitution,” by Richard Labunski (Ideas, July 6). As Labunski points out, Congress has the power to change the appellate jurisdiction of federal courts, including the Supreme Court. This is important because certain matters should be left to the states to decide.

The nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court do not represent the American people; Congress does.

Why should nine people decide the rights of millions of citizens on issues such as abortion, marriage, acknowledgment of God, etc?

When the judicial branch oversteps its boundaries, Congress needs to step in. When congressmen aren’t doing their jobs, it’s time for citizens to get involved.

To Congress, I say this: The Constitution gives you the power to make laws, not the Supreme Court. To the Supreme Court (which removed prayer and the Ten Commandments from our schools) and the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (which ruled in 2002 that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was unconstitutional) I leave you with the words of Jesus: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Mary Degroat
Greensboro

The people must take back their own government, which is now being run by the military/industrial complex. The people of the United States haven’t been free at all for the past two terms of the Bush administration.

Kay Mersereau
Greensboro

Tony Watts claims the California Supreme Court ruling granting marriage equality to same-gender couples shows “... disdain for the God of the Bible from which traditional morality and marriage emerged ...” (“Gay marriage ruling repudiates God,” Counterpoint, July 8).

The “God of the Bible” seems to prefer polygamy. A raped woman was forced to marry the man who raped her. A woman whose husband died without a male heir was required to marry his brother. Thankfully, we have grown and our understanding of marriage has changed.

Our country is not a theocracy but rather a republic with a constitution that mandates freedom and equality for all. The California court rightly recognized freedom to marry and create a family with the person you love as a basic civil and human right.

In context of civil laws, gender should not matter any more than race, economic class or religion of the individuals involved.

Tony Watts characterizes supporters of gay equality as “godless” and “atheistic.” God is love. The California ruling was about love. Love won!

Supporters of gay equality understand what God requires of them and mirror God’s unlimited, radically inclusive love. Watts is on the wrong side of love.

Cris F. Elkins
Greensboro

What a beautiful front page news story (July 13). I might call it a “Miracle for Greensboro.”

I am so glad that we (collectively) were able to find out what happened to Mark Hoffman. I have kept him in my prayers and was delighted to read of his safe arrival in Catonsville, Md. I believe God’s hand weaved the way from his departure from Greensboro all the way during his journey.

For one of our own residents to be in Catonsville and running late for mass and be led to the old chapel is a miracle.

Your story brought me to tears as I read it aloud to my husband. I had to stop when I came to the part when he met his daughter Kimberley.

Heartwarming, giving thanks to God for the reunion. May God bless the folks at St. Mark’s Catholic Church to care for our Mark for indeed he left his “mark” on Greensboro.

Gerri S. Minton
Oak Ridge

On Independence Day, Kindred Hospital of Greensboro chose to become a 100 percent tobacco-free campus. On behalf of the Guilford County Department of Public Health, I would like to extend our sincere congratulations and applaud Kindred for this forward-thinking decision.

Kindred is not only protecting its patients and visitors from secondhand smoke, it is providing a tobacco-free work-site environment and sending an important message to all of us about healthy lifestyles.

Tobacco use, including secondhand smoke, is the No. 1 preventable cause of death in North Carolina and a major drain on our economy in terms of health care costs and lost productivity.

This same tobacco-free campus policy decision was made by the Moses Cone Health System in 2006, and by the High Point Regional Health System in 2005.

It seems only natural that our fine hospitals in Guilford County should set the standard for work-site health-policy decisions.

With more than 100 tobacco-free hospitals in North Carolina, they provide a model for all employers, and we would do well to pay attention.

Kindred Hospital has done a great service to its patients, families and the valued staff who serve them. Thank you!

Merle Green
Greensboro

The writer is Guilford County health director.

The recent announcement by President Bush lifting a ban on certain oil drilling highlights a number of critical issues to think about. Democrats who complain should take note.

Although the president is blamed for numerous things including warmongering, demagoguery, and other big, important-sounding words, he really has little effect on what the final outcome of his decisions might be.

Many writers don’t appear to remember basic government 101, which clearly divides power among different branches. One of the most powerful is, in fact, not the president, but Congress. Might I remind that the House and Senate have a Democratic majority?

Before you point fingers at “the administration,” maybe you should write your congressional representatives.

We didn’t get into this energy crisis overnight, and it takes long-term views to try to fix a problem that was destined to happen under our antiquated and highly Democratic-constrained energy plan.

Nancy Pelosi’s response that the president’s plan “is a hoax” just shows that the Democratic-controlled Congress is best at calling names and offers little to fix our future long-term energy concerns.

Bradford Chase
Winston-Salem

As a potter in Seagrove, I will try to clear up a couple of blatant misconceptions about our efforts to create a “Celebration of Seagrove Potters,” the name for our new festival.

First, the North Carolina Pottery Center has absolutely nothing to do with our “Celebration.” For some reason Don Hudson, who is a commercial potter not living in the Seagrove community, has a fixation with linking everything he doesn’t like to the NCPC. As he stated in the July 14 article, “The other side is putting things out there that are ... patently false.” Enough said.

Secondly, most of the potters in Seagrove get along quite well with each other. We have spats and disagreements like any family but are able to work them out. It is the “gnat’s turd” mentality encouraging negativity we are against and trying to overcome.

In the long run, there will be lots more pottery to buy and more experiences in Seagrove on Nov. 22 and 23. Let’s leave it up to the public to decide if our efforts are successful.

Bonnie Burns
Seagrove

Regarding the letter by J.A. Hunt (July 14) about Jesse Helms: He says that his British friends didn’t like Jesse Helms. I say, “So what.”

The British probably didn’t like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin either. It doesn’t matter what other country’s people think of our politicians. It’s none of their business.

Jimmy Roddy
Asheboro

It’s no wonder many are unhappy with the U.S.A. Has it already become the Owned States of China? China is buying up the debt. The United States allows our jobs to go to China.

We have the war, killing our men and women so we can have freedom. We have given up our freedoms: the right to privacy, to pray. We still have freedom of speech. It is OK to have nudity and violence on TV as long as someone remembers to warn it’s in there.

We can’t afford fuel to go to work, medical and dental care, food and decent clothing. We send aid daily to foreign countries. We donate to save whales or turtles. We have starving, homeless people right here in our midst.

Everyone wants to spend billions on research to find out what our problems are. I can tell you: Lack of conscience, morals, inability or desire to punish criminals.

Look at statistics. It doesn’t take billion-dollar research to figure it out. We need to fix what is wrong now before we wake up and find ourselves living in a communist-capitalist regime. Look to your Congress and your Senate. Ask for a cure, not a cover-up of the symptoms.

Debra Turner
Summerfield

I wanted to drop the newspaper a note to thank you for the wonderful feature, “Guilford’s Most Wanted.”

I think in all of my years of living in Greensboro, this is one of the finest contributions that your paper has made.

Printing pictures of Guilford’s Most Wanted and hopefully seeing them arrested and brought to justice is wonderful.

Donald J. Brady
Greensboro

Tuesday morning on a newly annexed street in The Cardinal:
8:30 a.m. truck No. 1, garbage pickup.
9:00 a.m. truck No. 2, yard waste pickup.
10 a.m. truck No. 3, bulk waste pickup.
12:30 p.m. truck No. 4, recycling pickup.

City of Greensboro, what’s the gas bill for all these trucks?

Thanks to the monstrous 96-gallon containers you provided us, we only need garbage pickup twice a month and recycling pickup once a month. We foresee needing yard and bulk pickup quarterly at most.

Our tax bill nearly doubled.

Can we get a rebate?

Kris McNeill
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Earl R. Haith

While reading your newspaper, my attention was suddenly seized by the Counterpoint by Nathan Aaron, “Some of us believe in a God of love and hope” (July 15). After having read this, a rejoinder was absolutely necessary.

Let there be no mistake about it, there is clearly no “version” of God. One either totally accepts God, or one does not. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the one creator.

It is true that God is a loving God, as well as a forgiving God. But neither is without its limits, as God is also a God of vengeance. A Christian is defined as a follower of Jesus Christ, as one who accepts the entire message that Jesus left for this world and not just selected portions of his message. For such would be only a vain exercise in selected amnesia.

The Scriptures clearly refer to man and wife and God’s instructions for them — but there is not a single reference to same-sex unions.

Also included in Jesus Christ’s message of love is an unmistakable warning of cold vengeance. And He clearly and often states, “I shall take my vengeance.” One need only refer to the Scriptures and read of the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (and for those who are not aware of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is strongly suggested that they do a little research). Also there are other books within the Scriptures that clearly condemn nontraditional unions. Even in modern times, one is strongly encouraged to read Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.”

Indeed, it is a good thing that the News & Record does often feature articles on minorities and the ethnic diversity of our community. But being a minority is an accident of birth — it is not a personal decision. To allege that gay people are also a genuine minority is to allege that God made a mistake in regards to a few mere mortals. This is a position that cannot be justified.

Finally, attending church regularly does not, in and of itself, make one a Christian. And it may well be that with many Christians, as with ordinary people, it is not a matter of fearing that which they do not understand, but probably what they fear far more — the eventual wrath of the Almighty God.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

“Within my memory, Jesse Helms is the only statesman North Carolina has ever sent to Washington” (letter, July 12). Obviously, Thomas Harrington has not lived in this state very long.

Sam Ervin was truly a great North Carolinian and American statesman. He made us proud of our representation in the Senate.

Helms could not hold a candle to that really great man.

Elaine Ballenger
Jamestown

Media like your own use words like “crisis” to report the recent rapid rise in gasoline prices as some form of disaster. This is ridiculous. One of the few advantages of being old is that you benefit from knowledge of the past, much of which is characterized as “the good old days.”

Well, let’s look at the good old days. In 1968, gasoline was about 35 cents a gallon. At that time, few people ever complained about gasoline prices, much less calling them a “crisis.” Since then, because of inflation, the price of everything has gone up about six times (based on the Consumer Price Index). So that 35 cents per gallon of gas would cost $2.10 in today’s dollars, just because of inflation.

Moreover, in 1968 a car got about 12 miles to the gallon (and many people didn’t have a clue what their mileage was!). So, it took a little more than eight gallons to drive 100 miles. Therefore, it cost about $2.80 (or $16.80 in today’s dollars) to drive 100 miles in 1968.

Today, if you have a car that gets 25 mpg, you pay about $16.40 (four gallons at $4.10/gallon) to drive 100 miles. Big crisis.

Bill Stevens
Jamestown

A recent Counterpoint blamed the liberal Supreme Court of the 1970s for the poor discipline in our public schools. The author made some reasonable points, but he blew it when he said that a Democratic vote for president will ensure a liberal court for the foreseeable future. This is not merely untrue. It is off-the-wall. The present court has four very conservative members, one (Kennedy) mostly conservative, and four liberals. Three of the four liberals will be in their 70s and 80s, and the fourth (Souter) hates his job. The conservatives are younger and love their jobs.

If McCain wins and does what he has promised, we will have an extremely conservative court for decades. If Obama wins, we will have a conservative court, with lots of 5-4 decisions, a few of which might tilt left.

When we vote this fall, we will be voting for four years of governance, good or bad. But we will also be voting for decades of a predictable court. We can eliminate a bad president after four years, but we can’t change the court. It’s important that we know what we are voting for this fall.

Don Hallock
Greensboro

We do not need a war with Iran.

Aren’t two wars enough? Certain people have been obsessing about this. They should let well enough alone.

Wouldn’t it be better to pray for peace and work on this effort to end the other two wars?

Think on these things.

N.R. Smith
Greensboro

“The wish list is long — and the price tag is substantial.”

So begins a story about a $205 million proposed bond package that appeared in the July 12 News & Record. Taxpayers passed nearly all the bond proposals presented in May, adding to our tax burden, and now the city wants more? Give us a break!

Gas prices are sky-high, grocery bills have soared, stocks are way down, the economy in general is frightening. Adding personal “wishes” to that, my roof needs to be replaced, the heating/air system is about to crash, the dishwasher is making grinding noises, the bathroom and kitchen floor coverings desperately need replacement, I have no dental insurance, I need new glasses.

There’s more, but I’m sure you get the picture. I’m no different from thousands of other taxpayers who are crumbling under the pressure.

Where do we sign up for a bond package?

Sandra Barnes
Greensboro

It’s hard to imagine how he found the time, but somehow letter writer Larry Emory got around to meet “most Americans” before pronouncing them “technically and economically illiterate” (“Letter writer should have done her homework,” July 12).

The one American in particular he finds “well-intentioned but ignorant” proved this clearly in her own letter suggesting that Congress not cancel clean-air projects.

How could she have missed that link to environmentalism and its “prime accomplishment” of boosting production of ethanol fuel, of which he has nothing good to say?

Yet, I can’t help but reflect that had Emory indeed done his own homework, perhaps he would have found most major environmental organizations in this country soundly agreeing with his claims about ethanol requiring more energy overall to produce than pure-oil refined gasoline. And perhaps he would have found those celebrating ethanol to be not environmentalists but big agriculture and a Congress hungry to present the appearance of being progressive on energy while avoiding clean-air legislation completely.

But, then he’d have found himself actually in agreement with that writer he so pompously lectures, not to mention the rest of us who struggle each day through our technical and economic illiteracy.

Bill Yaner
Jamestown

Oil is a nonrenewable resource. If we have reached peak oil production, then our population growth will far exceed supply — if not tomorrow, very soon. Oil funds terrorists. By getting off oil, we will deflate Iran, Venezuela and al-Qaida.

Of the 90 million offshore acres the industry has leases to, upwards of 70 million are not producing oil, according to oil industry sources. Drilling current leases, U.S. oil production could be boosted by nearly 5 million barrels a day, up from about 8 million barrels a day currently.

Dropping the speed limit to 55 would save more than 61 million barrels a year, 30 times what allowing offshore drilling would bring (Energy Secretary Bodman). Which scenario helps the American taxpayer and which helps lobbyists and oilmen?

Local renewable energy can renew our economy. There are 166 renewable energy generators in North Carolina. Chevron and GM have bought into renewable energy. It’s time for the government to wise up. Oil is a dying industry, using its last throes to squeeze another dime out of America.

The time to fix the roof is while the sun is still shining. That rainy day is threatening.

Abby Shuler
Greensboro

I am very troubled by the number of letters to the editor criticizing the late Sen. Jesse Helms. These letters serve no useful purpose, but they deliver a slap in the face to innocent surviving members of Helms’ family. I doubt seriously that these people who are writing these hateful letters would want similar letters written to the editor criticizing one of their deceased family members.

A person certainly has the right to disagree with a politician’s ideology, but I feel it should be done in a respectful fashion. Face the politician while he or she is living and serving in office.

Let them know how you feel and suggest ways you think they can improve on the way they carry out the duties of their office. That is the courageous way to handle the matter, not through harsh critical letters to the editor about a deceased person unable to defend himself.

Larry Collins
Greensboro

I received several e-mails from friends containing an open letter from 12 airline CEOs complaining about the price of oil and how it cost the industry thousands of jobs. I wonder how much “skin” these men have in the game?

At an average salary of 500 times the average employee, the 12 good men could keep 6,000 of those jobs. Are they forgoing their bonuses, perks and inflated salaries, or are they keeping them on the backs of their employees and customers?

Dan Flak
Greensboro

If Gerald Parker (letter, July 16) would like universal health care, why doesn’t he move to Great Britain? They have a universal health care program. Say you are 45 and you have cancer. Maybe you will get treatment, maybe not. If there is a 20-year-old who has the same cancer, I believe you will not get treated until that person has first been treated. The government decides whether you will be treated or told to go home.

I personally would like to have the luxury to pay for any care that I want or need. The problem with health care costs comes from people going to the hospital emergency room for minor problems that they should go to a regular doctor for. Some people abuse the system. We pay for that.

Our government needs to find a way to make everyone pay their own way! Not the working class paying everyone’s way!

Stephanie Apple
Greensboro

Somewhere, a 17-year-old young man is doing three to five years of hard time in a real prison because he got caught with a couple of rocks of crack in his pocket. He’s reading about a 23-year-old man who pleaded guilty to multiple charges of drug abuse, sales and distribution as well as assault with a deadly weapon and got a sentence of 15 months of lawn mowing in Gibsonville. The 17-year-old is wondering why he didn’t get such a deal.

Well, son, here’s why. Your name’s not Sidney Lowe II. Your daddy’s name is not Sidney Lowe, didn’t play for N.C. State and the NBA, doesn’t coach N.C. State and couldn’t afford a lawyer with the chutzpah to blame your crimes on that den of iniquity at N.C. A&T. And you didn’t stand before the judge and lie about never being in trouble before. And we wonder about people laughing at the concept of equal justice under the law.

Oh, by the way, for those who believe that Sidney Lowe II will never stand before a judge again in a similar situation, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in buying.

Albert Musciano
Elon

Flush flush. Gurgle gurgle. That’s the sound of the American economy rushing down the pipes.

With oil prices skyrocketing and the housing and credit markets in shambles, everyone in Washington is tripping over themselves to point fingers. And even in the midst of a financial crisis, our elected officials are more worried about scoring political points than solving problems.

This just in: The American economy took the red-eye to China and no one even noticed.

America needs a reality check. We’re going broke. And it’s getting worse by the day, with the federal government stepping in to rescue banks and credit card companies that got fat off of unscrupulous lending practices while Congress was asleep at the wheel.

But don’t fret, we’ll just tack it on to the national debt. What’s another trillion dollars among compatriots? It won’t matter anyway, because when our creditors come to collect, the dollar won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on. It’s a win-win all around.

So, go ahead, banks and credit card companies. Lend to your hearts’ content. Because this is America, land of the free and home of the golden parachute.

Andrew Murphy
Durham

Gas math:
Here’s a spin-off of the gas-saving letter by Stefan Prufer (N&R, July 17). A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline weighs approximately 6.25 pounds. If a car has a 20-gallon tank, a fill-up of gas increases the weight of the car by 125 pounds. My thought is this: In-town, stop-and-go traffic with a fully loaded gas tank puts quite a pull on a car’s engine, hence fewer mpg. Why not put a half-tank of gas in the car (62.5 pounds) for in-town, stop-and-go traffic? Be less pull on the car, don’t you think? Also, less cost per gas stop.

It’s what I do. Just makes me feel better pumping $40 worth of gas instead of $80! There’s no scientific data to back this up, just something to ponder while you are idling at the two-minute traffic light.

C.K. Caldwell
Reidsville

I am appalled about the use of gas chambers in North Carolina to euthanize animals in our shelters. This needs to be addressed ASAP.

Why was the ruling to phase out gas chambers in 2012 removed? Why are shelters using chambers to kill animals when the only way to humanely euthanize the poor animals is with a humane injection to keep them from beating their heads against these chambers until they are all bloody? Some animals are too sick or pregnant to inhale these fumes and are dumped into Dumpsters still alive and suffering in pain, as was the case of a poor dog a woman saved. She found it in a Dumpster while taking out her trash. This is unacceptable, and the voices of animal lovers of North Carolina have gone unheard. It is time for this to end.

Please write to: Office of Administrative Hearings Rules Review Commission, 1307 Gatewood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27605. Make them do something today. Help these poor animals now.

Phyllis Gordon
High Point

Is Sen. Barack Obama as a modern-day John F. Kennedy? No. JFK got Congress to cut taxes across the board, including slashing the top tax bracket by 21 percent. He also got Congress to pass the investment tax credit, allowing businesses not only to take full depreciation on new equipment but also a 10 percent tax credit on purchase prices. Obama wants higher taxes on the “rich” and more business taxes.

In 1961, JFK sent the first ground troops to Vietnam, and tried using force to liberate Cuba from its tyrannical dictator Fidel Castro. The peacenik Obama would meet unconditionally with Castro’s ilk.

JFK’s most famous quote is “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Obama, in effect, says, “Go ahead; ask what your country can do for you — guaranteed health insurance, bailout of your ill-advised adjustable rate mortgages, and many other things.”

Obama may be many things, but what the late Lloyd Bentsen said to Dan Quayle (“Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy”) applies to him.

Al Shumard
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Albert Carter

I understand one purpose of Gov. Mike Easley’s trips to Italy was to promote North Carolina tourism. The question is, what in North Carolina can possibly compete with Italy in the area of tourism?

How about the North Carolina mountains, topped by 6,684 foot Mount Mitchell? Italy has the Apennines running its entire length from north to south with the highest peaks between 9,000 and 10,000 feet. They are close to every part of Italy. It also has Alpine peaks in the north that rise higher than any peaks in either the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevada.

How about the North Carolina beaches? Italy is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the east, south and west.

How about history? Italy has many artifacts from the Etruscan empire, Roman empire and Renaissance, just for starters.

How about places of interest? Italy has Venice, the Vatican, the Leaning Tower. It has the only two active volcanoes in Europe, one of which, Stromboli, is active practically all the time.
How about famous people? Galileo, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Julius Caesar and Titian are only a hint of the parade of internationally famous people that have lived in Italy.

How about art and culture? Italy is littered with art treasures such as the Statue of David, the Mona Lisa, the Michelangelo frescoes on the ceiling of the Vatican and far too many other internationally famous art treasures to even begin to mention. Italy is one of the greatest tourist destinations on earth.

It is hard for an American to go to Italy and not find something intensely interesting. That’s probably the real reason Governor Easley and company went to Italy.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

Just curious, why haven’t the news media, national and local, covered the recent removal of uranium from Iraq? I read your paper every day and don’t recall seeing anything about it. Should that not have been FRONT PAGE NEWS?

Do you suppose that one reason troops remained in Iraq was to ensure removal from that area? It appears that the administration did know there was yellowcake there but chose to remain silent to ensure proper disbursement, even with the liberals yelling.

Thank you, troops, for your sacrifice, service and our protection! Thank you, President Bush, and your administration, for remaining steadfast in the thankless job you are performing.

Could we see an article regarding the removal of this 500 metric tons of yellowcake uranium without a slanted view? It is my understanding through research on the Internet that Canada purchased it to generate power — could you verify that?

Phyllis Davis
Archdale

Editor’s note: An Associated Press story which ran on page A12 in the News & Record on July 6 said the Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer.

Your July 18 editorial on the conservation easements obtained by Piedmont Land Conservancy to save the Gerringer Dairy from sprawl made a vital point: Buying local food protects our communities and enhances our quality of life.

Family-scale farms cannot only meet our needs for clean, healthy food, but they can be an engine of economic growth for rural areas, and provide families the income necessary to stay in farming. For 50 years industrial agriculture has been driving small farms out of business and concentrating control of the food supply into a small number of corporations. This concentration has led to health risks like the recent salmonella outbreak and the recall of millions of pounds of beef from North Carolina schools, including schools in the Triad, earlier this year. And it has fueled sprawl as small farms were left with no choice but to sell out.

Renewed public interest in local food is bringing hope back to our family farms. The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Web site, www.carolinalocalfood.org, hosts a searchable database of sustainable farms, including 84 within a 50-mile radius of Greensboro, that build our communities by growing good food.

Roland McReynolds
Pittsboro

The writer is executive director of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.

The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacle was foreseeable and avoidable — in principle. Why were their respective boards not indicted? The short answer is that they were anointed by the banker-government patriarchs and political realities render them unaccountable.

The longer answer is that the monetary system is controlled for the benefit of the wealthy by privately owned, for-profit banks, including the Federal Reserve Bank whose handpicked board of governors deliberate in secret to make decisions affecting inflation, the size of mortgage payments, unemployment levels and business cycles. Both Fannie and Freddie, like the Federal Reserve, are largely unregulated; the former remains so by lobbying and by campaign contributions to key congressional members.

Guaranteeing lender banks payment for defaulted loans made to high-risk borrowers is a risk-free venture because American taxpayers will “socialistically” bail Fannie and Freddie out of any difficulty, ostensibly because not to do so would be catastrophic. Witness Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plea for unlimited financial backing.

The banking system was cunningly designed by the rich to benefit the rich. Guided by greed, bankers prosper; the American public must pay and pray. America needs God’s blessing.

Alan J. Greco
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Marian Lee

Many young people get into trouble with the law, but few have the support that Sidney Lowe II had. The parents of the majority of these young people aren’t well known. They can’t afford a high-profile attorney such as Locke Clifford or Joe Cheshire.

It’s a shame that some of the young people who are incarcerated at this moment — who didn’t have the extent of charges Sidney Lowe II had — are spending seven or more years in prison for lesser crimes.

What is wrong with this system? It seems that if you have enough money to pay a great lawyer, your chances of receiving a lesser sentence for your crime are a whole lot better, but is that justice?

I don’t doubt that this young man is sorry for his crime and that his plea for leniency was legitimate; but how about all of those other young men and women who are incarcerated who were first offenders and their pleas for leniency were never heard?

Prosecuting attorney Stephen Cole, who argued this case, was absolutely right when he said that “extraordinary facts submitted by the defense were no different than what many defendants in the same situation offer. Others in similar situations don’t qualify for extraordinary mitigation.”

If all judges took into account the needs of the offender and worked with the family to provide the needed resources, we would have much better outcomes than we do now. Instead of our young people being carried off to prison for many years, rehabilitation would be more likely.

From my standpoint, justice sees only class and money and not the needs of young people who are involved in crimes.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

A letter published Tuesday contained the wrong address for the state’s Rules Review Commission. It should be 1307 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, NC 27605.

In response to Stephanie Apple’s letter (July 21) regarding abuse of the medical system by people going to the emergency room instead of the doctor’s office, let me say this to Apple and other readers with an ostrich view of real life. People who use the ER for “minor problems” are the people who cannot pay upfront costs to see doctors in their office. These people are told by the office personnel to be prepared to pay cash when they come to the doctor or they cannot be seen.

The ER cannot refuse them. What would you do if you had a sick child and no money to pay a doctor? You would do the same thing.

These are people who are underpaid and make too much for Medicaid, but not enough to pay doctors. These are people who are homeless or who have lost their jobs because of the economy. So the rest of us are left holding the bag.

Remember that Jesus said, “What you do to the least of them, you do to Me.”

Jeannie Lester Russell
Asheboro

We’d like to add our (anti-bond) sentiments to those of Sandra Barnes (letter, July 20), but perhaps from a different perspective.

Being retired on a fixed income, and recently annexed by the city, we cringe at the mere thought of additional taxes. All those bonds passed in May (more than $650 million), and now a proposed $205 million more, are of little benefit to senior citizens. For the most part, they benefit parents of school-age children and those 50 and under. But everyone in those categories should stop and think for a moment about their parents and grandparents who are struggling to make ends meet while trying to cope with the increase in taxes.

Sure, it’s nice to build new schools, aquatic centers and sports venues, but let’s be practical. When times get tough economically, it’s time to cut back on expenses, not increase them. That’s what sensible homeowners do, so why not our government?

It’s time to send a loud message to those extravagantly spending managers of our money and vote “no” on these additional bonds (loans). In addition, please write to your City Council members and express your frustration at these ever-increasing taxes. Remember, say “No” in NO-vember.

Walt and Jean Noetzel
Greensboro

In reference to Cris Elkin’s letter (July 18), there is a fundamental flaw in his argument. He said, “we have grown and our understanding of marriage has changed.” Quite the contrary.

For millennia all civilizations around the world have built their societies on the family unit — a father, mother and children. In the family it is the responsibility of the mother and father to bring forth the next generation so as to continue the health of the society. A marriage produces children who are raised to be productive citizens, and thus society is able to grow and sustain itself.

Marriage between a man and a woman is for the purpose of procreation — the conceiving of children. Any other union between adults cannot be a marriage because procreation of offspring is not possible. Hence, when California allows for civil unions between man-man or woman-woman, those are not marriages. Those unions may be full of love, but they are not full of children produced from that union.

Unions of the same gender are sterile and of no benefit for the continuation of society. Real marriages are a blessing to society and they should be preserved and protected.

William Sellers
Greensboro

During the last 50 years, we have seen rivalries among Triad cities (and their leaders) obstructing regional cooperation and development. To name a few examples: the two airports dispute, the county line sports complex failure, the fight for Dell and the controversy to finish the Randleman dam project — now finally resolved.

Earlier efforts to reconcile and join forces have come up short. Hurt feelings from the previous effort to secede from Guilford County, while minimized through compromise, linger even now.

Now, through the efforts of the Piedmont Triad Foundation Inc., we have real opportunity to build an economic region as competitive and desirable as Research Triangle Park or Mecklenburg.

In his recent presentation to the Greensboro Kiwanis Club, Foundation President Bobby Long explained how the Wyndham Piedmont Regional Golf Tournament, promoted by the enthusiastic efforts of leaders and supporters throughout the region, is reinstating our historic golf tournament — no longer the GGO, but now the Piedmont Regional. Even more important to us all, he said, the tournament begins re-establishment of the economic and competitive status of the Piedmont Triad Region, second to none.

It is time for us to pitch in and support this new hope for the future.

Richmond G. Bernhardt Jr.
Greensboro

Barack Obama can change America, but his current rhetoric provides no indication of the change liberal Democrats expect. Obama has been under the influence of socialist liberals throughout his entire life.

He sought out such associates in college. His entire career has been an alliance with socialist activists.

The change to be expected if Obama is elected is a lot more socialism and a lot less freedom for productive people.

The Democratic leadership will never mention socialism, but that is what they will demand. Obama has a perfect record of obedience.

Joan G. Stratton
Greensboro

Stephanie Apple (letter, July 21) argues against universal health care. She asserts that health care costs are driven up by people using emergency rooms for treatment of minor complaints.

Approximately 250 million Americans do have the choice not to go to an emergency room because we have either private or public health insurance.

To our collective shame, approximately 47 million other citizens of the “richest” nation on earth do not have this option. And let there be no mistake: Many of them are working people who cannot afford the high cost of health insurance.

Apple and our president believe that all Americans have access to adequate health care because we can choose to go to an emergency room. Does the writer really believe that anyone with health insurance would choose to go to an emergency room with a minor problem?

Has she been to an emergency room recently?

No universal health care system is perfect. However, every “rich” nation save the United States offers health care to all of its citizens. At significantly less cost per capita than is the case in the United States, everyone in all of these countries is provided with decent medical care. I fail to see the problem.

Lawrence Brenowitz
Greensboro

When I read the article, “Pork is smoked; cigarettes aren’t,” by Joe Killian (July 18), I had to chuckle.

Seems the people don’t want to breathe smoke but they sure don’t mind eating it.

Who knows, maybe hickory chip residue and charcoal ingestion is a good thing. Eaten or breathed, smoke is smoke. And, yes, I am a smoker who loves a good char-grilled steak.

Jim Sartwell
Liberty

I was stunned by the unethical sentence of Sidney Lowe II by Judge Henry Frye Jr. Fifteen months at the prison farm for such serious offenses as six counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and six counts of second-degree kidnapping is unbelievable.

This is prejudicial to the inmates (and their families) who have been found guilty of similar crimes, yet don’t have the money, connections or status of the Lowe family to have their 10-20-year sentences reduced to such an absurd level.

I also question the integrity of Judge Frye. What did he gain by making this grossly unfair decision? If this is how the 1994 “Structured Sentencing Laws” are carried out to supposedly make sentences fairer, then those laws are in desperate need of a major overhaul.

To say that Lowe was due such a light sentence because he was from a supportive family, had been on drugs and was young is unconscionable. The prisons are full of inmates who have the same story.

Many have truly turned their lives around, yet they have no hope for parole in North Carolina. Lowe committed some very serious crimes. His victims deserve better.

Tony Ballew
Summerfield

I am totally annoyed at the fine citizens of Greensboro and Guilford County. If anyone wants a bond issue to pass, all they have to do is keep bringing it to a vote. Apparently, if the voters see a particular bond issue enough times on a ballot, they will eventually vote yes.

Take, for instance, the bond issue for War Memorial Auditorium at the coliseum. How many times has it been turned down?

If the “artsy” crowd wants a new auditorium, let them pay for it. If you consider the population of Greensboro and Guilford County, the percentage of people who attend any event there almost wouldn’t register a percentage point. Why should 100 percent of property owners pay for something that 1 or 2 percent use?

Wake up and realize bonds are delayed taxes and you will pay for them in the future.

Bob Ayers
Greensboro

In the “Stupid News From Washington” for this week:

So now we’re going to spend billions to rescue Fannie and Freddie. I understand how important the housing market is in our shaky economy. What I don’t understand is why these two government-backed institutions are allowed to employ more than 150 lobbyists and spend $5 billion to avoid changes to their oversight regulation (which might have averted this mess in the first place). Maybe if all the members of Congress had to reimburse for the goodies they’ve received, the rest of us wouldn’t have to go into our pockets for the bailout.

Another “Stupid”: What was Elizabeth Dole thinking when she introduced a resolution to name the latest HIV spending bill after Jesse Helms? Helms fought tooth and nail against any government spending on AIDs for years, on the premise that people that had it deserved it because of their lifestyles. Whether you agree with that or not, even her fellow senators were amazed at how incredibly dumb that was.

And why wasn’t it reported in our local news?

K.M. Fitzgerald
Greensboro

Tax revenues are the lifeblood that sustains and nourishes our nation. It’s the duty and privilege of honorable patriotic Americans to pay their fair share of taxes. No free ride on the bus.

Tax dollars pay our Armed Forces and build and maintain highways and bridges and countless other amenities. Taxes fund wars. Except the present one.

When a politician blabs about cutting taxes, ask which part of America would he cut or underfund. Would he cut his own salary or staff?

Responsible spending and tax reform equals tax cuts.

The tax code is not fair by a long shot. The way it is written and administered discriminates against wage earners and favors the “political donor class.” A salaried worker’s taxes are routinely deducted. Corporations declare their profits. It’s up to the IRS to audit and confirm.

Prioritize tax reform. Close loopholes, shelters and foreign mailbox headquarters. Tax-exempt status for religious institutions only. Level the playing field for all taxpayers. Adequately fund the IRS.

As a U.S. citizen, think hard about what your tax dollars give back to you, then repeat after me: God Bless America.

Max Roseman
High Point

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Charles Farrington

With the rising cost of petroleum and related products and services, the thought must be moving to the forefront of concerned people’s minds that something is changing, and it is. We are moving into, if not already in, a condition of Peak Oil. Put in very simple terms, this means that the world is running out of oil.

With oil supplies dwindling, the price will go up dramatically, as has been seen in recent months, because of the effect of supply and demand. The implications of Peak Oil are complex and I don’t pretend to understand all of them or have a solution for them. What I do understand is, the way most of us live is going to change at some point, and it won’t be voluntary.

First, we need to shift the majority of our energy research funding from the development of mass-scale energy generation (big power plants) to affordable technologies that will enable us to generate renewable, consumable energy on a homeowner scale. If every U.S. home connected to the power grid could generate its own electricity, the strain that would be taken off the grid would be enormous. Excess homeowner-generated electricity could be fed back into the grid, and the utility companies might even pay them for it.

Local energy cooperatives (small wind farms or hydroelectric) may spring up, powering several homes or neighborhoods. The big power plants could then be used to power industry, public buildings and systems and locations that can’t feasibly generate electricity. I feel this would make electric cars a more viable alternative to the common gas-guzzler. Imagine the implications — the change would be dramatic.

If American citizens want to live a lifestyle that is stable, sustainable and have modern conveniences that resemble what we have now, there must be changes. It may require power utilities to become publicly controlled. I’m not a communist or socialist; I am all for free markets. But at some point the greater good has to win out over profits (don’t get me started on Enron).

This situation reminds me of an old saying that has been presented to me at times when faced with a situation that seems overwhelming in complexity and in dimension. It goes like this: “How can you eat a whole elephant?” The answer: “One bite at a time.”

The writer lives in Greensboro.

In a July 22 editorial, the News & Record acknowledged that limiting driving speed to a maximum of 55 mph would help America conserve fuel. But, the paper says, such a practice should be a voluntary decision on the part of the driver, not made mandatory by law.

I am offering yet another challenge to the paper’s already challenged editors: Get in your small, fuel-efficient car and take a three-hour daytime drive on a regional interstate, say I-40 or I-85 or I-81. For those three hours, maintain a maximum speed of 55 mph. Periodically check the color of your knuckles. When you have completed this little exercise, let us know your estimate of the life expectancy of any driver who did this routinely.

I can’t wait to read the sequel.

Peter Kauber
Greensboro

Syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. quotes (July 21) Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone: “Someone’s yelling at me because I’m spending $3,500 a year on ‘Alfred.’ Alfred is 8. OK, Alfred turns 18. No one thinks anything about locking him up for 10 years at $60,000 a year.”

That $60,000 is the tip of the iceberg. Extra police, temporary incarceration, court costs, the aforementioned prison, probation/parole, probable recidivism, and a lifetime on public assistance; these are just the direct public costs of crime.

The direct private costs: Time off work plus property or medical damage for the victim(s), higher insurance costs, lower property values, possible lower tourism, and a whole lot of employers who have to let people off for jury duty (up to 36 employers for one crime: 12 regular, 24 grand jury).

Now add opportunity costs: If Alfred gets an education and stays clean, he pays taxes, he spends more money with local businesses, he has job opportunities.

The fiscal differences are too big to ignore. Spend the annual $3,500 and save a fortune. There just isn’t another fiscally sensible way of looking at this. As expensive as spending $3,500 seems, NOT spending it costs way, way more.

Steven Taub
Greensboro

Sen. Jesse Helms was one of the greatest senators this state has ever produced. When he spoke, you could believe what he said, unlike today’s politicians. People today seem to like the spineless, lying politicians we keep electing.

It did my heart good to see Dan Rather have to report Helms’ election victories and watch him squirm.

M.C. Chilton
Greensboro

I read with interest your report of the 50th reunion of Dudley High School. It seems strange to me that we had our 75th of the Greensboro High School in May and I did not see any mention of it anywhere in your paper. The paper was informed of it as well as our local TV station, even though there were only nine of us there. We met at the Quad at the school and had our pictures taken on the stage of the auditorium by one of the members and some of our guests.

By the way, I was an active Jaycee in 1938 when Sam Snead won the first GGO and worked in the concession stands. I am glad to see it go back to the original starting place. I wonder if other Jaycees are still around who helped to put on that tournament.

C. Weldon Fields
Greensboro

Only when our last factory has been shuttered, only when our productive machinery has been scrapped, only when our empty plants have been diverted or demolished will we realize that communist China has erased our industrial might without dropping a single bomb.

Charles C. King
Siler City

I am an 82-year-old Caucasian overseas veteran of World War II, and on July 21 I had a glimpse of the wonderful new America lying immediately ahead. I was leaving my doctor’s office when, just outside the door, I saw a black child, a boy of 8 or 9 years, seated with his mother. He smiled at me and waved. I stopped and stood before him.

“When you grow up,” I said, “will you be my president?”

He leaped to his feet and snapped off the classiest military salute I’ve ever seen!

“Yes, sir!” he exclaimed — and he knew exactly what I meant — and I, too, knew exactly what he meant. It was a glorious moment for both of us and for a very proud mother.

In that instant, 150 years of pain and struggle, hate and violence dissolved in the eyes of a child who was stepping into a new America, fulfilling a promised dream.

Al Mankoff
High Point

A few days ago, I walked into a “salon” to have their services. As I walked in, I heard, “Manicure? Pedicure?” After I told them what I was there for they said, “Pick your color.” That was the last English I heard until somewhere in the middle of the manicure she said “wash.” Not another word of English was said, not even “thank you” for the tip I left. All the time I was there they spoke some Asian language among the five of them. I was not the only customer in the place.

Nothing bugs me more than not hearing English the whole time I was there. I could not have cared less for what they were talking about, and I’m sure that more than 95 percent of their customers spoke English, and some may have been as disturbed by this as much as I was.

I will not go back there again until they decide to speak English when they have customers in the shop. They should realize that they are in the United States, running a business with English-speaking customers, and they should learn to speak understandable English while people are in the shop.

Joan Theisen
Greensboro

Referencing your July 18 editorial, “Taking but not asking,” Amen! Citizens have got to wake up and hold this General Assembly accountable.

Doug Aitken
Pinehurst

The writer is president, Fair Annexation Coalition, and citizen member of the House Select Committee on Municipal Annexation.

I vehemently disagree with the position taken in your July 22 editorial regarding the new anti-gang legislation. This law will lead to nothing more than the profiling of young people who choose to dress like their favorite hip-hop stars.

I am also disappointed in the politicians who went along with the legislation. This is clear evidence that there is a class and generational divide between the civil rights generation and the hip-hop generation.

It is sad that in an attempt to get a seat at the front of the bus, many of the older generation have chosen to throw our children under the bus.

Paul Scott
Durham

The writer is founder, Messianic Afrikan Nation.

Shame on Judge Henry Frye Jr. What would his father have done with Sidney Lowe II?

What an example Frye has set for the criminals in Guilford County, knowing that if they come before him, they just might get off with a slap on the hands for such a serious crime. Now Lowe is making weapons while he’s in the county jail. The justice system has failed on this case Does Frye care?

Howard Walker
Greensboro

The sales-tax editorial (July 24, News & Record) fails to mention that a sales tax is “regressive.” You mention that the idea is to keep the property tax down, but a property tax is “progressive.”

A sales tax hits the low-income citizens a lot harder as it amounts to a higher percentage of that income, while with a property tax, the more you have the more you pay.

Perhaps a sales tax will win the day, but I do think that all the angles should be displayed editorially.

Thomas L. Harmon Jr.
Greensboro

The plan for giving e-mail addresses to Guilford County students does not seem to take into account that all students do not have computers at home, nor can they pay to connect to the Internet. Schools have a mandate to make access to education equal and balanced, but this particular plan would only enhance the existing disparity.

Especially at this time, when many parents are struggling financially, it doesn’t seem to be fair to execute a program that only some can benefit from.

Kathleen Quinby
Greensboro

If the security of our country is your top priority, please give some very serious thought to your privilege of voting for our commander-in-chief. Your choice is between a loose cannon who makes claims before he knows the facts or a soft-spoken warrior who gives studious attention to critical times and then acts accordingly.

No names mentioned because you are wise enough to vote accordingly.

Jack Cecil
Greensboro

Andrew Murphy (letter, July 22) is spot on about some career politicians pandering to lobbyists by propping up poorly managed companies and incompetent golden parachute CEOs at taxpayer expense. Solution: term limitations and a nationally mandated series of candidate debates where candidates are sworn in (Congress likes to catch perjurers!) and are forced to actually answer a question. Each debate would be followed by independent reporting on fact verification with candidates present. Anyone honest enough to show up would get a wide level of support from middle America.

On the other side, let’s take some personal responsibility. A family of four in New Jersey, combined gross income of $30,000, purchased a $300,000 house and is suing the mortgage company because it lost the house. Sixth-grade math, a rudimentary budget and no expectation of getting bailed out would have prevented this.

Folks, get your children through at least high school and teach them about a budget, self-reliance and self-discipline.

Larry Lapple
Greensboro

Hillary Clinton would be the best vice presidential choice for Barack Obama. We need someone experienced in how to get health care for more than 40 million people without health coverage.

She has suggested it be like Social Security so that everyone is covered. Social Security is paid for out of our paychecks. Health insurance is taken out of our paychecks. This way, future generations will be assured of having health care and retirement security.

She knows how it can be accomplished so it will be fair to all. It is very complicated, but she has more than 35 years of experience with government and understands what needs to be done.

With more than 40 million now without coverage, something is not working. Costs continue to rise rapidly with no end in sight. So perhaps with some control of coverage and cost, she is the best one to help get it through Congress.

This is one change that is needed badly for our country. I can’t think of anyone who would be more qualified and trusted to get our health care system on track than Hillary Clinton. She is very popular and has good standing in the Senate.

Jim Clark
Greensboro

I had the privilege of photographing the North Carolina National Guard drill on July 19. These young men and women had physical training all morning and took classes in the afternoon. I only stayed from 0800 to 1300, and I’m still tired from trying to keep up with them! Yet, they drilled all weekend and went to work or school on Monday.

Volunteers who give generously to serve their country, they respond when natural disaster or civil disorder strikes. Many Guard units are deployed overseas. When called, they leave their jobs and families to serve their country.

It’s easy to be cynical when most of our news is bad, but seeing these young people working so hard for the rest of us mostly thankless citizens, it’s hard to be anything but optimistic and proud to be American. I’m also impressed by the diversity and the camaraderie I witnessed. There are no race, gender or class issues in the American military. Everyone has the opportunity to serve and to excel. It instills a deeply felt sense of patriotism in me. They all deserve our gratitude and respect.

Greg Gunn
Greensboro

A recent news story about the North Carolina Medical Board’s vote to post medical malpractice payments greater than $25,000 seemed to indicate that this represents a “cutback” of the information the board provides to the public.

To the contrary, the board’s vote paves the way for a vast increase in public information. At present, patients have no reliable way to know if medical providers have made malpractice payments. When the board’s expanded practitioner profiles go live, North Carolinians will have access to about 90 percent of all such payments — even with the $25,000 threshold. The board’s vote amended an earlier proposal to post all payments.

The board’s existing physician profiles, available at www.ncmedboard.org, already publish licensees’ full disciplinary histories in North Carolina. Adding malpractice information will make the board’s profiles among the nation’s most comprehensive, even with a $25,000 threshold for malpractice payments. Many boards that post such data report only physicians with multiple payments, and some limit disclosure to payments exceeding $100,000. The North Carolina Medical Board chose not to take this approach, in the face of considerable pressure from its licensees and others.

R. David Henderson
Raleigh

The writer is executive director, North Carolina Medical Board.

Thomas Sowell’s July 23 column defending banks in the current housing crisis claims that, in extending subprime loans to African Americans, banks were doing what the Community Reinvestment Act extolled them to do. Sowell wonders how greedy bankers can be blamed when they lost billions of dollars and asserts that “lenders are in the business of making money, and they don’t much care whose money it is, so long as they get paid.”

Yes, lenders are indeed “in the business of making money” but, at the onset of the housing bubble, lenders focused on the money that would be made when borrowers refinanced their mortgages as the balloon interest rates kicked in. So long as housing prices continued to rise, there was every reason to approve loans to buyers without even requiring proof of income.

When the housing bubble burst, the collecting-significant-fees-loan-rewriting scheme came to a crashing halt and the “so long as they get paid” part of the ruse failed.

For those facing foreclosure, those having lost their construction jobs, those finding it harder to borrow — and taxpayers who may have to finance bailouts — it is unfortunate that the cunning bankers were driven by greed rather than prudence.

Lawrence Morse
Greensboro

The writer is associate professor of economics, N.C. A&T State University.

I find it very difficult to remain silent when an injustice has been done by our court system. No, not against the defendant Sidney Lowe II, but to the people of Guilford County. I guess the old saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know,” is true. I don’t recall reading where Lowe II said he was forced to try drugs. God gave us free will, a mind of our own to say “yes” or “no” to any situation.

Sidney Lowe Sr. said his son had been sheltered all his life and was not prepared to leave home and be exposed to N.C. A&T’s environment. What an insult to Aggies!

In comparison to most black youth, Sidney II was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, two loving parents. When you choose the behavior, you also choose the consequences. Maturity doesn’t always come with age; it comes with accepting responsibilities. Lowe II didn’t have to concern himself with these traits. He simply passed the torch to his parents and they passed it to Judge Henry Frye, who promptly put out the flames of justice.

While we are trying to close the gap of achievement between races, let’s not forget about the gap of morality.

Shirley Wright
Greensboro

Regarding the recent hiring of new Guilford County Schools Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green: Once again we have bypassed a white woman for a black man. How sad! I guess someone called the glass repair “man” to fix the cracks in the glass ceiling.

Lisa-Ann Andrews
Greensboro

The new Guilford County Schools superintendent no doubt must be an intelligent individual. However, the irony is that if he were applying for a teacher position in the district, he would not be considered “highly qualified” and would have to take the Praxis test, as well as many lateral-entry courses.

“Because his mother was a teacher” is not enough to qualify him as superintendent. On the other hand, I do appreciate the fact that he is going to “listen” to teachers, a most important quality for any leader.

So the bottom line is now our overworked, underpaid teachers will not only have to educate our students but our superintendent as well?

Why do we not have the same standards for superintendents that we have for hiring our principals and teachers?

If the laws in place for hiring are not appropriate for our superintendent, why are they appropriate for our teachers?

Maybe Maurice “Mo” Green could answer that question for me since he is an attorney.

At any rate, I do wish him well. I hope he does a lot of listening because, despite all the governing requirements from the state and federal governments, our teachers are the best in the state and thus he will receive a good education.

Lois Bailey
Greensboro

The following is a Counterpoint.

By Ralph Johnson

Regarding the News & Record article, “Charlotte trip an eye-opener for city leaders”: I also attended the trip to Charlotte and I agree with several of the comments made in the July 26 news story.

In order for Greensboro and all of Guilford County to become more vibrant and attract the businesses that we must have to improve the quality of life, our elected officials need to do better. It seems that the only thing they want to do is argue and call each other names on television.

We had elected officials on both trip buses, but what I observed was that the ones who should have made the trip were nowhere to be found.

One of the keys to this trip was the professionalism displayed by the staff of both the Charlotte and Mecklenburg governments.

They spoke to the cooperation and the respect they had for each other, stating that they may not always agree with each other, but they were willing to listen and negotiate. “Negotiate” was a term that was used often in their discussion with us.

Hugh McColl, the former chairman of Bank of America, did mention during our luncheon that the center city is important — and he is right, no doubt — but he also said that balanced growth is vital.

I am the co-chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro. Looking at the Mecklenburg County map, I saw that the thing that Charlotte/Mecklenburg County is doing is balancing the growth in all areas of the city and county. There is a lack of quality commercial development in the eastern parts of both High Point and Greensboro.

My hope is that this trip was not just a day off, but that it provided information that can be used for the betterment for the entire county.

The writer lives in Greensboro.

A July 24 letter to the editor said that the purpose of marriage is procreation and that same-sex unions are “sterile” and, therefore, could not meet that purpose.

Procreation is one reason for marriage, but surely not the only one. The stability of monogamy benefits all society. (Is it better for society that gay people not have the option of that stability?)

Moreover, the idea that procreation is the only purpose of marriage effectively invalidates the marriages of couples who are unable to have children or who choose not to have children. The letter writer fails to condemn such “sterile” unions.

At least as important as procreation is the understanding that humans are oriented toward love and that we should embrace the grace of that emotion wherever we might find it — in heterosexual unions, in homosexual unions, in familial bonds and in close and unique friendships.

Whether we choose to express that love in procreation is secondary to the importance of giving and receiving love in the first place.

Beth Woodard
Jamestown

The last seven-plus years have been the reign of the dictator Republican untouchables.

Having George Bush as president has been like having a terminal illness. I have prayed each night for a better tomorrow. I have sadly awakened each morning only to more bad news.

A suppressed people are easier to rule. I don’t think I need to list the suppressed conditions we live under. I would never have imagined that in eight years an administration would succeed in raping and bankrupting our country. We are left with Bush’s spoils of war and greed which has benefitted the 1 percent of the ruling wealthy.

Bush was a wealthy “C” student. John McCain is a wealthy fifth-from-the-bottom-of-his-class student. We need a president who feels compassion for the American middle class and poor.

Barack Obama worked while going to Harvard to receive his law degree. He speaks with strength. His demeanor earns respect.

Michelle Obama worked while going to Harvard to receive her law degree.

The June 30 Newsweek had this to say about John McCain’s wife, Cindy: “She became addicted to painkillers, a habit she says, brought on in part by stress of politics.” This sends an alarm about a woman wanting to be first lady of our country.

A vote for Sen. Obama is a vote for a candidate in touch with the 99 percent of the people who work from the heart for the survival of this country.

Yvonne Kane
Asheboro

I was completely shocked and dumbfounded at your recent article (July 24) detailing the newest philanthropic venture by billionaires Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg. Their intention is to give $375 million to a “global-effort” fund to cut smoking, seeing it as the “biggest threat” to developing countries.

They specifically name Africa — a continent with unbelievable poverty, civil war, and lack of medicine, vaccines, schools and food! But they need to cut back on their smoking? Try asking 12 million orphans what they really need to survive — I bet the answer won’t be “the patch.”

It just goes to show that money can’t buy common sense.

Hey guys, if you have $375 million burning a hole in your pocket and are obviously desperately seeking a tax-shelter, I am sure that the 375 poorest cities in America would truly appreciate a “small” donation. Maybe one of the recipients of a soup-kitchen meal there would even let you join them for a smoke afterwards.

Andrea Wilhelm
Greensboro

Barack Obama has the audacity to go to Europe and speak as if he is the president of the United States. That greatly offends me. He is not my president and doesn’t represent me.

Not only that, this so-called candidate of change doesn’t have the time to visit our troops. He is nothing but a Chicago politician.

Julie Machones
Greensboro

Regarding William Sellars’ letter (July 24): I was struck by his assertions. He wrote: “Marriage between a man and a woman is for the purpose of procreation. ... Any other union between adults cannot be a marriage because procreation of offspring is not possible.”

So I assume our nation shouldn’t allow marriages involving women beyond child-bearing age. I have witnessed the weddings of such brides, as well as nuptials that, for whatever reason, did not result in “the conceiving of children.”

Now Mr. Sellars informs me these are “of no benefit to the continuation of society” because “they are not full of children produced from that union.” How sad I am to realize these are not marriages.

Denise B. Young
Brown Summit

I just finished reading the article regarding the Board of Education’s selection to fill the position of Superintendent of Schools for Guilford County. My biggest concern is why were the two candidates brought here? The reason Dr. Shirley Prince was turned down was that she came from a system that is one-tenth the size of the Guilford system.

Was this a great surprise to the board that was only discovered after she arrived here?

It appears that Dr. Prince, although qualified by education and hands-on experience, was doomed from the beginning. I feel she was done a disservice by being asked to come for the interviews.

Then Maurice Green was selected because of his experience in a very large system. I question his great experience. He lacks an educational background, having been educated as a lawyer. He has only served as an active member of the Charlotte/Mecklenburg school administration for approximately two years. Prior to that, his experience was in the field of law.

If these were the two best candidates found after a nationwide search conducted by a respected search firm, did we get our money’s worth? What we received was one disqualified before she left Scotland County and one with almost no experience in education.

Gene Kelley
High Point

I read with disbelief the piece, “Exit ramp hinders MLK development” (July 17). You followed that on July 23 with a supporting editorial.

Are you advocating the closing down of a public exit between two busy roads so that a church can build a retail shopping center? What am I missing here?

That exit represents roughly one-tenth an acre of land. To call that a “highway-style exit ramp” is laughable. How would you propose cars get to a road that goes above another? An elevator?

Where is there an exit ramp in Greensboro that does this and takes up less space? The exit ramp on the other side of Lee Street takes up much more space, but somehow an award-winning development was built around it.

Looking at the artist’s rendering confirms that the ramp location is a relatively small part of the property. You are proposing that the state surrender property, funded by our taxes, for the benefit of a church and the detriment of those using the ramp. Alternative routes go through residential neighborhoods and waste gas.

Sid Kauffman
Greensboro

Good luck, Mary Fontaine, in your turf war (“Turf war erupts over yard,” July 26). Unfortunately, the law is on the side of the homeowners’ association. Thanks to the Planned Community Act of 1999, volunteer association boards can fine Fontaine (and ultimately foreclose on her property if she holds a mortgage).

The problem is that, with the North Carolina law, the homeowners’ board can impose unwritten rules of what is “a manner consistent with improved lots.” The neighbors get to decide, not the homeowner.

The homeowners’ law has neutered rugged individualism, setting the stage for mini-civil wars of the property owner’s rights against the union of the neighborhood. This is, in my opinion, damaging to flexibility and change in times and conditions such as the watering-the-lawn issue. This law prevents other energy-saving measures such as hanging clothes out to dry and solar panels.

The Planned Community Act should be modified (if not eliminated) to strike out the need for “consistency” for consistency’s sake and let homeowners be free to make their own decisions.

What will Fontaine’s property look like next year? Probably there will be grass in the front yard.

Libby Thompson
Greensboro

I was glad to hear/read that voter registration is very high. With the discussion taking place now, this gives the municipalities across the nation time to get support to their boards of elections so that every precinct will have equipment that works properly, and every vote will get counted properly.

Mary G. Mims
Greensboro

Regarding the July 26 article about Mary Fontaine’s battle over her yard:

I think Fontaine’s yard looks great. I’d like to do the same to my yard.

It could become a great trend. Just breaking up the mulch with some green shrubs could start a mulch-and-shrub competition.

Jean Cimler
Greensboro