Letters from our Readers - April 2005

Kudos
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! I am glad you will print varying points of view. I enjoyed what Mr. William Fielder from Peachtree City Ga had to say. I only wish he would have finished the entire story with the european connections Halliburton had and has in europe. We all know, or should know, that VP Richard Cheaney was CEO of Halliburton and Halliburton owns several of the european companies Mr. Fielder speaks of in his letter. We also know, or should know, that the Bush family owns a large steak (ha ha) in Halliburton.
Bill Chilcutt
PS I love what you have in the requirements to have the letter printed, especially "if we are in a good mood". We must be related. 

Terri 
I read your cynical article about "who pays the cost". This is not the 'normal' case situation. The husband who left her for another woman convinced a judge that Terri "doesn't want to live this way" and got a court oorder to that effect, despite his lack of credibility and the fact that it was 7 years after her illness began before he began saying that she didn't want to live this way!!!!! There are other items which just don't fit in this puzzle, but regardless Michael's lawyer was more persuasive than the parent's lawyer in the early court case and won the judgement which continues to condemn a helpless woman to cruel starvation. That is why it is such a big deal. Wait until you have a loved one on 'life support'. 
Edgar T. Clarke

Waa, waa 
Your editorial about the cost of Terri Schiavo's care struck a chord with me. It just reminded me of all the things that I, as a taxpayer, am paying for that I don't agree with. I'm paying for people to kill babies. I'm footing the bill for all the kids in my neighborhood to go to school--plus paying the tuition for my own kids to go to a private school. I'm paying for research that isn't worth the paper it's recorded on. That's life. And by the way, weren't you ever taught to try to get along with people? I'm sure you are just as obnoxious to the "Christian zealots" as they are to you. That's life, too. (Hallelujah!) 
Melinda S. 
Olathe, Ks.

Way To Go!!!
Just read your article on Terri Schiavo - BRILLIANT!!
Thanks for a realistic viewpoint! :-)
Donna Harrington

Who Foots the Bill 
Bravo! Well done! But that we could send the bill to the Schindlers and their supporters. Meanwhile, why is it acceptable that the Schindlers have spent tons of money on attorneys (albeit donated by religious right groups) but for Mr. Schiavo to hire attorneys to defend himself makes him some kind of monster? 
Thank you for a fine piece of writing. 
Warm regards, 
Susan Cooper-Holl

Terri Schiavo 
Do you have blood in your veins at all?!?! Do you have a heart? Oh, no, wait.........I'm a religious zealot who doesn't think about the ramifications of what's going on. That's right. I forgot this country has gone so crazy that judges are allowed to completely disregard our constitution and absoluetly shed the system of checks and balances. Terri Schiavo's trust fund is gone because Judge Greer decided Michael Schiavo could use it to pay his attorney fees so he could kill his wife and marry another woman. 
Rhonda Howard

Schiavo's case highlights injustice 
Regardless of your position with respect to the right to die with dignity issue, Terri Schiavo's death brings tears to the eye. But as God works in mysterious ways, the Terri Schiavo case may have a good result. Certainly this case has gotten many people thinking about the need to write a Living Will and Health Care Directives to specify their wishes with respect to being kept alive indefinitely in a persistent vegetative state.
When my own mother had a stroke and became unconscious, I prayed that she not die and called 911. She was rushed to Jackson Hospital where I gave doctors permission to keep her alive, to place her on a feeding tube and to do everything possible to sustain her life and restore her health. This action saved my mother's life.
It is therefore perplexing that Judge Reese McKenney, Jr., should have appointed non-relative attorneys as my mother's guardian-conservator. I have learned that he is on the board of directors of Jackson Hospital and believe his action may have been taken to prevent a malpractice claim against Jackson Hospital or Crowne nursing home where my mother is a resident, given Crowne asked the court to intervene when I wanted to move my mother to Tyson where she could get better physical therapy and be under the care of a geriatrics specialist.
When my mother learned about the court's action and that attorneys then were filing a claim against me, she removed her feeding tube, telling nurses it fell out. But what really happened is that she was protesting the action of court appointed guardian/conservator to bring a claim against me, the person who saved her life on more than one occasion and sacrificed so much to make her life easier over the years as she grew older.
My mother's case is similar to Terri Schiavo's in that this is an issue where the court is making decisions which go contrary to what individuals have said and expressed that they want done. Although my mother did not have a Living Will she did sign a Health Care Directive and Crowne nursing home has failed to follow these directives. Taking me out of the loop, essentially makes my mother a ward of the State of Alabama against her will.
My mother's rights and dignity have been violated by the court, Crowne nursing home and family members who have not acknowledged her wishes. I have reported in detail how the elder care system in Alabama is corrupted at http://www.byteland.org/era. 
The Terri Schiavo case brings to light the inadequacies of the legal system in administering to the affairs of our dearly loved ones. Why should the state have the power of God to dictate one's fate when they are incapacitated, have dementia, Alzheimer's or other disability when this can be done by family members acting to follow the guidelines of Healt Care Directives or Living Wills? 
I plea for any interested lawyers to come to my mother's aid to restore her rights! An injustice has been committed against my elderly mother and this has been done by the court, the nursing home, and ad litem appointed lawyers who have not truly represented my mother's best interests. God answered my prayers to keep my mother alive; now won't anyone step forward and help my mother regain her life and dignity? 
Terry Lynch
Montgomery, AL
terrylynch@aol.com

Social Security Reform A Cost-Benefit Analysis 
In a recent report, humorist Andy Borowitz writes, "in an effort to confuse the insurgents, President Bush said the U.S. will begin airdropping copies of his Social Security plan over Iraq.”
Social Security is a complicated program, so attempting to reform it can easily get mired down in complexity. But it doesn't have to. Instead of speculating about future rates of economic growth and investment returns, we can use historical data to determine what would have happened had Social Security shifted to personal retirement accounts (PRAs) in the early 1980s.
In 1982 the U.S. had an opportunity to reform Social Security by shifting from the current pay-as-you-go system to private accounts. Instead, the decision was made to "solve" Social Security's financial problems by raising payroll taxes and cutting benefits.
Where would we be today had the U.S. followed the direction of Chile, permitting workers to divert a full 10 percent of their income from Social Security taxes into their own accounts beginning in 1982?
The table shows the results for three income classes: low-wage, median-wage, and high-wage workers. Two types of accounts were created:
one for stocks and the other for bonds. The stock fund consists of returns to the S&P 500 stock index. The bond fund consists of buying corporate bonds with yields determined by Moody's AAA corporate bond index.
Several practical adjustments were made to account for the cost of administering and managing the PRAs. These adjustments reduce the returns to the private accounts, particularly in the early years.
Workers' Assets in December 2004 from Private Retirement Accounts Started in 1982:
The benefits from the PRAs are the assets in each worker's account. At the end of 2004 a low-wage worker would have had an account worth roughly $64,000 to $87,000 depending on the mix of bonds to stocks. A hypothetical median-income worker would have had an account worth between $188,000 and $263,000. A high-income worker would have had between $262,000 and $355,000 in his or her account.
Using the average median worker's account of $226,000 and multiplying it by a workforce of 100 million workers produces a rough estimate for total benefits: $22.6 trillion. This represents the gross cumulative increase in workers' assets from having shifted to PRAs in 1982.
The costs of switching to PRAs must be subtracted from the benefits. So that it can continue to pay Social Security beneficiaries, the federal government must replace the funds going into PRAs. One option is for government to borrow the money. Assuming government borrows all of this money, it must also pay interest on what it borrows.
The least expensive way for government to borrow is to issue three-month Treasury bills. To determine the costs associated with the shift to
PRAs, we assume the federal government issues three-month T-bills to replace the funds going into PRAs and to pay interest on the additional debt.
The cumulative cost, including interest, for funding the account for a typical worker amounts to $112,000. Multiplying this by a 100 million
workforce provides a rough estimate of the costs to government from funding the accounts-roughly $11 trillion. Subtracting costs from benefits produces a figure of more than $10 trillion for cumulative net benefits over the 22 years.
The figure for net benefits after only 22 years is reasonably close to some estimates of Social Security's current unfunded liabilities. This analysis suggests that the net benefits from creating PRAs are so great that this reform would make it unnecessary for policymakers to reduce Social Security benefits in the future.
In fact, the numbers used here underestimate the true net benefit that accrues to workers. Net additions to assets from the PRAs would have produced additional advances in productivity. These would have raised workers' incomes and profits from what actually occurred. This, in turn, would have produced higher investment returns than those actually realized.
There is also another benefit to private accounts. Dramatic changes in behavior occur when individuals own an asset personally, as they do with PRAs. Under the current Social Security system, workers collectively own nothing more than a political promise that they will receive some future income. History shows there are dramatic differences in behavior and performance when individuals own property privately versus collective ownership.
Opponents argue that a transition to PRAs will cost trillions of dollars and saddle future generations with mountains of additional debt. They're correct. What they fail to realize is that the benefits of such a transition will produce trillions of dollars in assets that far outweigh the costs. The more aggressive the transition, the greater the additional debt ... and the greater the net benefits to future workers.
The failure to shift to PRAs in 1982 was a mistake that has cost today's typical worker more than $100,000 in assets after allowing for all the costs associated with establishing the accounts. It is too late to correct a $10 trillion mistake made more than two decades ago. Given that incomes and productivity are much greater today than they were decades ago, the future benefits from directing Social Security funds into private accounts should be even greater than that suggested by past experience.
Let's not repeat the $10 trillion mistake made in 1982.
Robert Genetski
The Heartland Institute

Bush on Social Security
Conservatives hate Social Security because they think it is Socialism. It is not; it is insurance. It has been very interesting to see how Bush has manipulated public opinion and the media to push for privatization of Social Security. This plan is so stupid, so poorly thought out and makes so little sense that it makes me wonder if Bush is trying to distract us from the Iraq quagmire. Never mind that the $10 trillion deficit he created and the accompanying recession has made the numbers for Social Security look pretty bad (well, by 2042 we will be facing cuts, right?) It doesn't help that our tax laws incent companies to export jobs overseas, further depressing the middle class payrolls in this country and of course, reducing payroll taxes being paid into Social Security.
The thing that upsets me the most is that Congress doesn't even contribute to Social Security; they have their own pension plan that pays them a full salary after they retire. They have no vested interest in Social Security; it doesn't affect them. Why would they care? To get re- elected? Why? Just live off your pension - you get the same money anyway.
Get off your butt and call your Congressman and Senator and tell them this is not the way to fix Social Security. While you have them on the phone, you might want to mention that you are not too happy that they get their full salary after they retire (plus cost of living increases) and you get about 30% of yours. 
Kevin Barnes

Voice of Reason
Mike...Our carousal rendezvous last week registered multiple clicks for me. Your open, fair minded, even handed, easy going manner about your paper sends a shock wave of excitement through all of me...really. Bulletin Bob has a nice ring to it, eh? And aside from the "ring," to pump life into this BB character seems to be just what the doctor ordered. 
Over the week-end, while attending a local Humanist meeting, I mentioned a letter in the
Letters section on the inside flap of the Bulletin's current edition and 20 papers walked out the door. Monday morning the Wonder Workers of the Woodlands(WOW)welcomed me. While conducting opening business it came up that business cards were an absolutely essential tool; "How many of you have them? Of thirty some mostly women present only a couple of hands rose...another bingo for Bulletin Bob, Z MAN. It's small spuds I know but it caused my bloodless veins to flow. Also, a lightweigt glance at six months of Bulletin issues reassures me as to just how much I appreciate your effort to publish this special Montgomery County Voice of Reason.
BB

Public Education: An Issue of Legal Responsibility
I've long said that if the state doesn't want to assume its constitutional responsibility to provide a quality education to every child, then legislators need to change the law. Lawmakers appear to be looking at doing just that. 
Currently the state is guilty of violating its mandated responsibility to parents and their children. Personally, I advocate a class-action lawsuit against the state by parents and educators. Seems like any effort to resolve an educational issue in this state results from the judicial and not the legislative system. 
If legislators want to privatize education, that's fine only if taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for it. Otherwise, legislators simply are looking to cover their own butts for not providing the appropriate and adequate financing during the past decade. Case in point: It is the legislature that has created the current emergency plight of public education by having set up a financing system that ensures educational inequality among economic classes and is doomed to fail. 
Furthermore, if privatization of public education is our next step, legislators had better put into place a regulated system of tuition and finance costs. We need only observe what has occurred under the recent deregulation of higher education tuition costs to note the critical nature of this issue. Privatization of public education brings along a whole set of other issues and problems. Ongoing legislative inept short-term thinking is incapable of determining and implementing an entirely new educational system. In addition, operating two parallel educational systems under the state rubric, public and private, is doomed for failure. If the state cannot successfully manage one system, how is it possible for it to manage two? 
However, if the real concern is to educate every child equally (which it isn't) then privatization is NOT the educational road to recovery. Privatizing education will merely ensure the inequality between the "haves" and the "have-nots" within our society. 
Privatizing education is another misguided special interest notion legislators have selected so they don't have to assume the constitutional responsibility they have been diverting for the past decade. Isn't it clear yet to everyone that legislators are NOT the group needed to develop a quality functional public school system? They have proven beyond a doubt that they are incapable of doing so. 
Peter Stern
Driftwood, TX

More on Terri Schiavo
I hear what you are saying, but find it hard to swallow. The question is, could you practice what you are preaching??? What if it was your daughter?? That are a lot of concerns in Terri's situation that I feel are not being properly addressed. The fact is that someone in a persistent vegatative state cannot respond to commands, visually focus on people as they enter a room and smile as their parents approach her bed. I saw a video clip where she folllowed a command from someone to open her eyes. How can this be? Something to think about. I am not a religous or any other kind of fanatic, just a concerned citizen that is unbiased in the situation. You better turn your thoughts to Michael Schiavo..... who has gone on with his life and found new love. How can he honestly still have Terri's best interest at heart??? It has been said that he stands to monetarily gain from Terri's demise?? Has this been checked out. How many times has he been to see her in the last 10 years?? Terri is not being turned off of a life support machine... she is being starved to death. There is a big difference. She has been allowed to live for 14 years post heart incident and now there is a raging hurry to remove the feeding tube. I feel that Michael Schiavo definitely has some underlying ulterior motives for wanting his wife's feeding tube removed, beside the fact that Terri Schiavo is not a damn bear rug you can through out when it's usefulness is gone, she is a breathing viable human being whose company is enjoyed by her relatives and by the looks of Terri's smile when they enter the room, she enjoys their company as well. You don't even want to go there about the cost of sustaining her life.... the Medicaid program is abused a lot more for far less and you know what I am talking about. Next time, before you open your mouth, trying to warm up that frigid heart of yours and imag! ine how you would feel if it was your daughter and try to put yourself in their position. The next nasty thing you have to say about somebody, let it be Michael Schiavo, because I do not believe that he has fought for this feeding tube removal for 10 years + without it somehow benefiting him in a monetary way.
Lisa Price

Reply to a Cad 
Mark Cadwallader of Conroe takes exception to being labeled “far right” or “ultra-conservative.” Disparaging labels for others flow freely from his pen, however. Mr. C. is “illiberal”; that is, against civil and human rights for those on his agenda. His agenda does not “conserve” liberty and justice for all nor honor the Constitution of the United States. 
« Independent media are vilified as “liberal” in media owned and controlled by corporations that supply weapons to militaries for wealthy ruling classes of other nations. Worker protections, health care, pensions, union representation, Social Security are all “liberal issues” under attack in the U.S. Strategies used against working classes in other nations will happen here and will be enforced by our military. 
« Mr. C. would starve big government of income only for issues he opposes, but he would spend freely for his agenda. What he really opposes is taxes invested in U.S. citizens—public schools and universities, hospitals and medical coverage, police and firefighters, child care, elder care, etc. 
« The U.S. has a history of traditions that are no longer acceptable today—genocide of indigenous peoples, territorial seizures, centuries of slavery and racial bias, second-class citizenship for women, to name four. Recent history reveals our government complicit in torture, subjugation, and death of poor people exploited by wealthy ruling classes in nations the world over. 
« Mr. C. considers himself the proper censor of all books in public libraries. He would deny civil and human rights to sexual minorities. Fearing that his family might learn acceptance of others in public libraries, he would deny all parents using the public library their right to determine what is important for their children. 
« The copy of a statue of David by Michelangelo in the Portofino Center of Shenandoah now wears a fig leaf that enlarges its genitalia, thanks to the Christian Coalition and the RLC. That action made laughing stocks of Montgomery County citizens. The Mark Cadwalladers of our nation and their cronies are obsessed with sex. 
« Proposing that an alien or a supernatural being might have intelligence similar to human engineers is not a scientific theory and therefore not appropriate for public schools. Only biological evolution meets criteria for a scientific theory. In an RLC debate, Mr. C. proposed scrapping the scientific method because it does not support intelligent design and conflicts with his interpretation of the Bible. He would redefine science away. 
« When human life begins is a religious question that must be answered individually, not imposed by a “strict father” or a “big brother” government. The proper question is whether a pregnant female is solely a vessel to incubate a fetus or a human being in her own right. Another proper question is whether to inform citizens of their reproductive process and of all legal alternatives to pregnancy. Mr. C. would deny parents their right to determine that their children learn accurate sexuality information in public schools. 
« Mr. C. states that 70 percent of the county supports the RLC. If attendance at RLC meetings is any measure, his contention is exaggerated by 69.9 percent. Voting Republican does not translate to support of the RLC. Stealth candidates supported by the RLC plan to move into local government pretending to be “mainstream.” 
K. Paige
The Woodlands, TX 

And MORE on Terri Schiavo
Considering that her "medical" costs consist of food and water, don't you think this article was a little harsh?
You know that there is no need for hospice... there is room at her parent's house and they are not asking for any help supporting her.
Also, a million plus dollars her guardian recieved to care for her would have gone a lot further if he didn't need her dead.
Dawn
Online Reader

Eissler's HB 
Regarding Representative Rob Eissler's proposed drinking bill. 
Texas and the country would be better served if our 'statesmen' would pass a bill requiring the governor to keep the national guard at the border to slow down the socioeconomic terrorism the illegals cause, instead of wasting the House's time trying to push through legislation that will delay drunken benders by a few hours. 
Carl Fox 
Hurst, Texas

You Can Always Write A Wrong
ive been reading your pub. for a long time. i like the brashness. i like the truth be told and damn those who dont like the light it may shed on any subject. i was bannasided from my high school creative writing class because i was considered just a little to radical. 25 yrs. latter i havent changed my ways. would like to send you a few story or thoughts if your interested.
should i send cor. to this adress or to another. thanks for your time.
tom dassing
Online Reader 

response to the humanesociety letter 
Hey Cindy...If that surprised you it shouldn't. How many of the workers were outside smoking? Try calling the hsmc...same thing.... maybe that is my fault since I supposedly staged a 65 minute tape from there showing the deplorable conditions and absolute neglect of the animals in 2003. Apparently not enough people have made a stink about this as thier answer immediately after the "incident" was to turn their phone lines into an unanswered message center.I would imagine this would be a good way to say "well nobody has called to complain" since you cannot get a live human to answer the phone or god forbid call you back. The thing is it is really easy to not accept responsibility for something if you choose to stay "uninformed" and the way to do that is to put an answering machine between the problem and the solution along with an automatic deletion button. What we don't know won't hurt us?Tell that to the AIDS victims of the 80's.Look, any one that watches channel 13 knew about the problem I brought to light with that tape, along with anyone that reads this paper. The simple fact is we are all too self serving to give a s*** untill we try to get what we want and are confronted with the same problem that started the ball rolling in the first place.Simply put-when the shit lands on your new shoes NOW it's a problem.I will say it again.DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I have been labeled a liar and a disgruntled employee, so I have done all I can do....I lost my job-fired while under a doctors care-BY THE HUMANE SOCIETY because I refused to lie about the puppies they killed when I was told to.I made the tape to get the public that wants these animals out of their face to stop being part of the problem and be part of the solution...make these people accountable. SPAY YOUR FREE ROAMING PET...NEUTER YOUR HORNY DOGS AND CATS...VOLUNTEER AT THE SHELTER...YOU THINK THEY HAVE IT BAD ON THE STREET? You should see the kittens that were separated from their mother and put in the cage below to starve to death....kittens with no teeth cannot eat hard adult cat food and seven day old kittens are not able to even if they did have teeth....where was the owner when this cat missed the appointment they OBVIOUSELY made to have her spayed?I am not coming down on anyone specific, I am just so sick of reading these "OH MY GOD GUESS WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SHELTER" stories. Pay attention people...this is not new, it is going to continue due to fact that NO ONE CARES ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BESIDES COMPLAIN. 
Heather Boggs

Judge Mason Martin 
I am writing to you because I am in the midst of a custody battle with my ex-husband, his parents, my parents, and my sister...all in Judge Martin's kingdom. 
My situation is complex but simply put...I am the mother of a beautiful, bright, 5 year old girl and am about to lose her simply because the opposing counsel just so happens to be part of the same "Good Ol' Boy" network that Judge Mason Martin belongs to. 
From the first second of our trial, Judge Martin has shown nothing but disdain and disrespect for my attorney, my case and for me as a mother. He has over ruled every legitimate objection, motion and special circumstance my attorney has presented without so much as a blink of his eye. 
As a result, I will more than likely have the custody of my daughter revoked and given to my ex-husband...which will not only tear my heart in half but that of my daughter's as well. 
I will be glad to see the end of this Judge's reign and I pray to God that no other mother has to go through what I am going through right now. 
Those who file frivelous lawsuits based on no merit what so ever are treated with the highest resepct and dignity in Judge Martin's courtroom... those who are like me...(struggling to provide a better life for my daughter and family and can not afford to pay $10,000 at the drop of a hat to prevent having their child taken from them for no apparent reason)...well we suffer at the mighty blow of Judge Martin's gavel. 
Thank you for bringing the story on Judge Martin to light...I encourage others who have fallen victim to a tyrant judge like Judge Martin to stand up and purge our judicial benches so that the system we so love in our country will work for those that deserve it. 
Jennifer Coleman

Kudos on KidzFest 
Just wanted to thank the Bulletin, the Ladymans, the City of Conroe, sponsors, and other volunteers for making the 2nd Annual Conroe KidzFest such a huge success. This was my first time attending the event and I have to say I was very impressed. There were so many activities and events for kids of all ages and the family-friendly atmosphere was welcome and warmly obvious throughout the two-day affair. 
Several members of my church, theBridge, were excited to sponsor and volunteer our time in the Arts Village and get to interact with the community. This is a fantastic event that breathes life into downtown Conroe and showcases the best our small town has to offer. Families that didn't take advantage of it really missed out on a great, free, experience other children will be talking about for weeks and months to come. 
Congrats and kudos to all who donated their time, money, and talent to pull this thing off. I know that theBridge and myself will certainly be there again next year. 
Jason Bellini
theBridge Communications
www.saturdaynightchurch.cc 

Card Sharks Comment
Thank you for such a fine and complete report on the unfairness of the Credit
Card Companies and Banks. 
I will be calling Mr. Robert B Hinsley & Associates to see if He or They can 
give me advice of Help me get out of Debt that you have reported herewithin.
Thank you again for a great report.
Katherine Jones

DeLay Trust 
It occurred to me the other day how much we trust each other. In January of 2002 I had total hip replacement surgery. I 
spent five days in the hospital, with
excellent results.
My point is I was helpless while recuperating. I trusted that everyone from the initial check-in at the hospital to food services, maintenance, the surgical nurses, of course, the surgeon, post-op nurses. I trusted everyone, and they were strangers, distant service providers at best. They all did an excellent job because we possess a strong sense of personal responsibility. 
We trust each other to obey traffic laws, trust rubbish men to do their job properly, policemen, court reporters to provide an accurate record. 
Without personal responsibility, our society would collapse. 
The many investigations and ethical questions swirling around Tom DeLay may soon become very serious resulting in criminal charges. I think he should step down while he is being investigated. He has proved to be a rank political opportunist, influence peddler and possible felon. Tom Delay is the poster boy for the Bush administration corruption.
Dan Lavielle
Seattle, Washington 

Yollick
I seem to be having problems but this is final, if it is wrong then so be it!! P.S. I heard Yollick may be the new Democratic chair. It was kind of confirmed today in the courier. I say good riddance for the Republican Party.
I know you are a Democrat (so is my husband). However, my husband said no way would he stay one with him running the party. He's a piece of work. 
Nicol Huff

Pandering to the Crackpot Right 
George Bush and the Republican Party are pandering to the crackpot Right. They aren't going after moderates when they threaten judges. They aren't going after mainstream Americans when they attend meetings where Democrats are demonized as being against people of faith. 
Nope. George Bush and the Republican Party have sided with the extreme right. Their primary base consists of those who believe that compromise toward the middle is unacceptable. 
The problem with this, of course, is that extreme anything is ... well ... extreme, which Webster's describes as 'very pronouced or excessive.' Or, in this case, excessive crackpottyism. 
This country is being dragged back from the things that have made it the greatest country in the world by these RetroCons. The very reasons why we were once the most respected country in the world are being dismantled one by one in their march toward returning the country to their imagined roots. 
Ends do not justify the means. Two wrongs don't make a right. 
Personally, I don't want to go back. I want to go forward. And ... quite frankly ... I want my MTV. 
Angie Pratt

Terry Schiavo
This is a great article... http://www.gopinsight.com/2005/04/americans-not-in-favor-of-starving.php  
I found this poll most interesting. I go with that belief, that if in Terri's situation, the majority would not have favored "starvation". 
Thank you so much for the article. I do appreciate the attention one has to pay, or at least think about, to certain unanswered questions upon reading your article. 
Stacy Ann Patterson

Terri Schiavo article 
I read with intense interest and agree with everything written in this article. Awesome, Awesome piece of journalism! 
Kathy

More on Schiavo
i dont think the judge had rights to say wheather she lives or dies, if GOD wanted terry hed would of takin her way before this,i think in my heart the parents should deside wheather there child would want to live or die i know its sad thing to go through but so many go through it everyday,you just dont know when GOD wants us,
mary

McDougal’s Memory
Michael McDougal, our district attorney, should have listened to Abraham Lincoln when Lincoln said, "No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar." In his interview with Channel 2 news he said that nudity was found on two of his prosecutors computers. He additionally said last year the entire county computer system was shut down when one of his prosecutors down loaded a lingerie dance video. He told the Courier that it was an "autopsy" photograph that was downloaded. He also stated, "We've never had anything like this happen before." Simple logic dictates that these statements are mutually exclusive. I guess Mr. McDougal's memory is slipping. For a mere autopsy photograph, I wonder why the prosecutors were punished.
More troubling than this is that he said in the Courier, "I would still like to know who was offended and how they came to be offended by it. I think it was probably a recently terminated employee trying to get back at us." In an interview with Montgomery County News McDougal said, "If someone went into their office and saw that picture, then that's their own problem." He went further saying, ""I still don't know who the person that complained was." "I don't know how it came about, and the head of our computer system wouldn't tell me." He seems to be intent on conducting a witch-hunt to find out who leaked the information. Is this person to be fired for being offended by inappropriate material? There is no concern from him about the actions of the prosecutors who committed the reported offense.
McDougal, at the request of his political buddy Bill Leigh, took Nicol Huff, my wife and at that time a member of the hospital district board, before a grand jury and indicted her for allegedly violating the open meetings act for trying to get the CEO of the Hospital District fired for doing pornography and personal dating services on taxpayer time and equipment. I know that it was all dirty politics, but I remember wondering why he did not go after the CEO for illegal use of taxpayer time and equipment. McDougal made the reason clear in the Courier when he said, "I don't have any objection to somebody having sexually explicit stuff, as long as I don't know about it." I guess his memory is slipping again, he knew about this one as well.
Dr. E. Sterling Huff
The Woodlands, TX

Children Have a Right
While hate wins in Texas, the children suffer. I am shocked that Texas might become the first state to bar gay citizens from becoming foster parents. Not only does this recent vote by the Texas legislature make no sense, children end up suffering for this display of hate. Sexual orientation is not something that can be taught or "caught". Moreover, these kinds of harmful ideas have no place in local or state government.
While states such as Connecticut and Massachusetts are finally standing up for equality and justice, hate and stereotypes still dominate much of Texas legislation. Discriminating against gay foster parents feeds the homophobic hysteria that teaches people how to perpetuate inequality and hateful prejudices. As a result, Texas children suffer.
I commend legislators for wanting to reform Texas's Child Protective Services agency and improving standards for foster care selection. There must be improvements made to the system to overcome racial disparities and drug use. However, outlawing responsible and mature foster parents (who happen to be gay) from providing homes to children is absurd. This policy discriminates unnecessarily and only weakens the foster care system. People have a right to hate. But children have a right to loving families.
Ken Seifert
Conroe, TX

Regarding Kaul’s Opinions 
Although this issue has come and gone, I couldn't help but respond to the article that was written regarding the Schiavo case. Donald Kaul obviously knows exactly what was in the mind of her husband, who said to many witnesses on many occasions immediately after the incident that caused her to lapse into a state of dependency that he had no idea what to do since his wife never said anything about such matters. These were recorded in sworn court affidavits that were ignored by the judge. 
So this man, who later changed his story regarding her wishes after he was remarried and had a considerable amount to gain by her death monetarily, is to be trusted? Nurse testimony under sworn affidavit that affirmed his attempt to kill her by means of insulin overdose went unnoticed by the court. Evidence of bodily harm during the context of an argument over their separation immediately preceeding Schiavo's collapse also went by without due process. This man Schiavo, whom Donald Kaul wishes to make into some sort of hero, seems to be somewhat less than that. All of his testimony should have been stricken from the records. His integrity was impugned to say the least. 
But what is the larger implication of all of this? One must remember history. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. History records that the killings under the Nazi regime began with such a "mercy" killing in pre-WWII Germany. A man requested that his daughter, who was born severly deformed, be allowed a merciful death. Using the court system Hitler permitted this man's request and so began his infamous "life unworthy of life" campaign that led to the deaths of anyone with mental illness, severe sickness, alcoholism, handicaps, and eventually extended to those races and creeds that were also determined to be a sickness to Germany (i.e. Christians, Jews, Gypsies, Boy Scouts, Polish, Germans who opposed Hitler, etc.). Also remember that the Germans who ran the infamous death camps were of the scientific elite in Germany, fully endowed by the court system at that time to experiment on these people who were not deserving to live. I have a daughter who was born with Down's syndrome and will most likely never lead the kind of lifestyle that Mr. Kaul has defined as being required for living. Does her difference condemn her to death? Should it, Mr. Kaul? Absolutely not. 
My point is this, we cannot begin down the road of death and destruction only slightly. It is a slippery slope that will end with the deaths of countless millions. Hitler and the Nazis took about 12 years to implement their savagry. Also we must remember that Hitler was a duly elected official in Germany. The first time he tried to take power by force, but the second time he was elected during a period of financial instability in Germany. The Schiavo case is important in that it sets a dangerous precedent. It opens the door for further court appointed "mercy killings" that may not have true merit. 
I also must remind Mr. Kaul that there have been many reported cases of people whose EEG was flatlined and who made a full recovery. One must never give up on life. It is the most precious of God's creations. We are not animals but rather a special creation endowed with certain inalienable rights. The first of those being the right to life. 
Jim King 
Houston, TX

Editor's Note: We encourage you to send in your Letters to the Editor, but please remember to give your name and town. `Anonymous' letters will no longer be accepted. Direct confidential questions by calling (936)539-2200 or e-mail editor@thebulletin.com.

LETTERS FROM MARCH 2005

LETTERS FROM FEBRUARY 2005

LETTERS FROM JANUARY 2005

LETTERS FROM DECEMBER 2004

LETTERS FROM NOVEMBER 2004

LETTERS FROM OCTOBER 2004

LETTERS FROM SEPTEMBER 2004

LETTERS FROM AUGUST 2004

LETTERS FROM JULY 2004

LETTERS FROM JUNE 2004

LETTERS FROM MAY 2004

LETTERS FROM APRIL 2004

LETTERS FROM MARCH 2004

LETTERS FROM FEBRUARY 2004

LETTERS FROM JANUARY 2004

LETTERS FROM DECEMBER 2003

LETTERS FROM NOVEMBER 2003

LETTERS FROM OCTOBER 2003

LETTERS FROM SEPTEMBER 2003

LETTERS FROM AUGUST 2003

LETTERS FROM JULY 2003

LETTERS FROM JUNE 2003

LETTERS FROM MAY 2003

LETTERS FROM APRIL 2003

LETTERS FROM MARCH 2003

LETTERS FROM FEBRUARY 2003

LETTERS FROM JANUARY 2003

LETTERS FROM DECEMBER 2002

LETTERS FROM NOVEMBER 2002

LETTERS FROM OCTOBER 2002

LETTERS FROM SEPTEMBER 2002

LETTERS FROM AUGUST 2002

LETTERS FROM JULY 2002

LETTERS FROM JUNE 2002

LETTERS FROM MAY 2002

LETTERS FROM APRIL 2002

LETTERS FROM MARCH 2002

LETTERS FROM FEBRUARY 2002

LETTERS FROM JANUARY 2002