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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Letters to the Editor
Gain and Pain
To the editor: After reading the article about gas wells (“Gas Pains,” Sept. 14, 2005), I can see that the city’s crystal ball is severely cracked. Yes, the city of Fort Worth stands to gain lots of immediate revenue from gas drilling within city limits, but at the same time the property values of homeowners near the drilling sites will drop significantly and will remain low long after the gas has been extracted. There’s also the expense for additional infrastructure upkeep due to the toll that the heavy equipment takes on our streets. In the end, the city will lose money by the devaluation of so much property and the increase in upkeep of streets. Bottom line: short-term gain, long-term loss.
It’s interesting that the city will allow gas drilling under but not on parkland. Wait. Don’t the gas companies say they can restore everything back the way it was? Hmmm.
Susan De Los Santos
Fort Worth
Speechless
To the editor: Russell Broadway (Letters, Sept. 14, 2005) provided the best description I have ever read of the failures of our sitting president. It seems, according to the negative polls, that almost everyone realizes the failures of this man, yet sits back and says, “Oh well.” I have long said that our representatives in Washington need to do something to get Bush out of office while there is still a slight chance of repairing all of the damage he has wrought. I defy anyone to name a single thing Bush has done right. Without Karl Rove (still in the White House despite the fact he admittedly endangered the life of Valerie Plame) to tell him how to open his mouth, he couldn’t utter a word. Wouldn’t that be great? No more lies!
Ed Huddleston
Fort Worth
Dutch Treat
To the editor: Major kudos to Peter Gorman for his outstanding story: “Vets Against the (Drug) War” (Sept. 28, 2005). It’s one of the best stories on our drug war I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot.
I’d like to add that if tough-on-drugs policies worked, the quixotic goal of a drug-free America would have been reached a long time ago. And if tolerant drug policies created more drug use, the Netherlands would have much higher drug usage rates than the United States.
It does not. In fact, the Dutch use marijuana and other recreational drugs at much lower rates than Americans do.
And if tolerant drug policies caused more overall crime, especially violent crime, the Dutch would have much higher crime rates than the United States.
They do not. The Dutch murder rate is less than one-third the U. S. per capita rate, and their rate of incarceration is about one-seventh the U. S. rate.
In the Netherlands, marijuana is sold to adults without criminal sanctions in coffee shops. In the United States, marijuana is sold by criminals who often sell other, much more dangerous drugs and who often offer free samples of the more dangerous drugs to their marijuana customers — thus the gateway effect.
Legalize, regulate, and control the sale of marijuana, and we close the gateway. Legalize all types of recreational drugs and sell them in licensed business establishments, and we will make the term “drug-related crime” obsolete.
Kirk Muse
Mesa, Ariz.
On the Wright
To the editor: A simple thing I learned in kindergarten: cause and effect. From the start, Southwest chose to conduct all its North Texas operations from Love Field (“Air War,” Sept. 14, 2005). They wanted to be the exception. They played the “little guy” card, pleading that they didn’t want to be a big company.
Now Southwest is crying, “It’s not fair to us little guys to have this rule.” If they are successful, airlines will pull flights out of D/FW to compete at Love Field. The effect will be loss of Tarrant County tax income. D/FW has 22 gates. There’s plenty of room for Southwest, and D/FW has offered generous allowances (free rent for 10 years) to Southwest. Now ... are they the little guy? Or just the little manipulator?
A. K. Poindexter
Arlington
An American Issue
To the editor: I really enjoyed reading and wholeheartedly agreed with the guest column “The Muddy Waters of Race” (Sept. 7, 2005) in Fort Worth Weekly. I found the article truthful and to the point. Having lived in the Gulf Coastal region for several years and having family from the area, I found myself cringing every time a reporter conducted an interview or relayed a story of “evacuees” in distress. Why was I not surprised at the discrepancy in the reporting, seemingly skewed from the start?
Now I know it isn’t just me believing the media bias reached its apex the same day the article depicting the black family “looting” and the white family “finding” circulated. I truly believe that very photo changed the balance of the field reporting. It was a hot topic at work and not just among the minority employees. I just think after that, more “white” suffering was documented. It became an American issue and not just a “poor and black” issue.
I applaud you for your accuracy and attention to this problem. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to more of your articles. Semper Fidelis — and God bless.
Bobby J. Adkins II
Specialty Engineering , EFW Inc.
Fort Worth
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