May 19 Letters to the Editor

Privacy at a city intersection?

Dave Grumbois (“community activist”) has said that he really hates cameras “intruding on his privacy” (May 13 article). Just what privacy does one have on a city intersection that is so busy that a traffic light is needed? How is his privacy improved by having a police officer present to give tickets to those who choose to drive illegally?

Red-light cameras should pose no problems to those who drive safely and legally.

B.E. Wheeler

Longview

Motive is exposed

Thanks to Dave Grumbois and Mike Wallin (May 13 article) for speaking up and exposing what the Longview City Council’s interest in the red light cameras really is — collecting revenue for the city. As a taxpayer, I am against sin taxes.

This is my government and I should be responsible to pay my total share to keep it running smoothly. When we start relying on law breakers to pay for our government, then we, as citizens, may tend to become less responsible for the way our elected officials spend the public’s money.

Good government that is responsible to its citizens will cost money to function properly. As citizens of this community it is our obligation to keep our city council informed on the proper way to spend our money to insure that, so the we can all live in a Longview that we can be proud of.

Dan Smith

Longview

Why stop at torture?

Tracy Albright’s May 12 letter supporting torture was thought provoking. 9/11 was such a horrible event, and continues to have such lasting effects, that it is easy to justify about anything we want to do in the name of our security. Like a blind man with a machine gun, we have killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians and killed and maimed thousands of Americans while we pursued terrorists, or those who may become terrorists.

Should we care that “waterboarding” and other “enhanced techniques” are against our own and international laws? If we think the end justifies the means, shouldn’t we be willing to sacrifice the law, our principles, the Constitution, our religious beliefs, our humanity or anything else that gets in the way at the moment? Think how many Japanese lives may have been saved by torturing our soldiers in World War II. Of course, we prosecuted and executed the torturers, but that is only because we won the war.

Maybe the “slippery slope” argument is for wimps. Maybe we shouldn’t stop at torture. Maybe we should locate the 9/11 terrorist’s families and subject them to the misery and death we have experienced. Contrary to Albright’s assertion, 500 years of torture history, and our current torture experience shows very limited success. But what the heck — vengeance is ours.

Phillip A. Massey

Kalama

Waiting on a check

Mike Lee (May 14 letter) has a point about scams.

I recently received an e-mail from this Nigerian woman who wants $15,000 so my wife and I can live in comfort on the $250,000 she will send us from her dead husband’s estate. He was President Obacha and she signed her name ”Mrs. Obacha,” which sounded pretty legitimate to us.

What kind of fools does she think we are?

We sent her a check for $15,000 at the end of February and she has never answered back. We will wait until the end of June to receive a check from Mrs. Obacha. If it is not forthcoming, I/we will contact the Better Business Bureau.

Norm Olsen

Longview

Loading up on debt

I deleted the e-mail and sat there staring at the screen saver of my latest grandchild. It hit me then. What will his world look like in 20 years, when he is ready for his chance at Life? I suddenly saw him looking at me and asking, “Why did you do this to us, grandpa?” I wondered if he was even going to be an American at all.

It hit me so hard my heart knotted up in pain. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted so much for that child to have the same chances in life that I was given. It hit me then that it was already too late for that. Life was easier in the ‘60s. But would he have any chances at all?

The amount of debt we are loading upon our children and our children’s children is unconscionable.

I don’t understand where all of President Obama’s admirers come from. For this one thing alone, I hang my head in shame at being an American, wondering who Obama thinks he’s fooling. Are we all really that stupid?

Kenneth L. Carroll

Kelso

There’s a simple fix

The economy has been devastated by corporate greed and corruption. Wall Street stole billions of dollars. Almost every corporation in the U.S. is out to scam the consumer. Banks, oil, cable, telephone, credit card and drug companies cheat consumers on a daily basis. There is no regulation, no oversight and, most important, few corporate crooks go to jail.

The latest scam is health care providers. If your plan pays for referrals to out of network specialists, pay attention to how much of that charge is being paid. Your insurance company is setting fees for what they think is a customary charge, which in most cases, means the patient is paying more than he should out of pocket. Several insurance companies in New York have paid millions of dollars in fines for fixing prices. Recently, health care corporations said they want to keep costs down. What a joke.

There is a simple fix. If a company is found guilty of defrauding consumers, the CEO serves jail time. Until that happens, nothing will change.

Joseph Jordan

Kelso