Letters to the Editor 08-19-2005
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Losing Rights - Retirement Accounts - Stolen Fish - Daylight Time - Baker Youth Suggestion - Natural Time - Wants Central Time
Losing Rights
Editor, Times-Union:We are gradually losing the constitutional rights our ancestors fought and died for.
We are not losing them to terrorists or Iraqis, we are losing them to the two major political parties we insist on re-electing year after year. We are losing them to the idea that we can be protected from all things bad or evil and the idea the government can do it.
The Libertarian party is the only party that will work to protect all your rights.
The Democrats are straight-forward about taking your guns.
The Republicans are more devious. They will pass laws, the violation of which will deny you the right to own firearms. You don't break the law? You must not drive. The speed limit is a law. Click it or ticket law. Open container of alcohol in your car law. Running a red light, accidental or otherwise, law. If you are a librarian and tell a customer the FBI is checking their records, you are a criminal. Got a parking ticket? Been busted smoking a lousy marijuana cigarette, you're a criminal. Make no mistake, the Republicans are attacking your Second Amendment rights as much as the Democrats.
I would like to repeat a statement made by Benjamin Franklin that I have come across many times in the course of reading about our Revolutionary War years. "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." Another famous quote by a well-known philosopher, Pogo, goes, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
If we really are the liberty-loving people we claim to be, we better start acting it. Pounding our chests and sending our young people off to die in places all over the world will eventually cost us our freedom.
Charles Carnes
Warsaw
Retirement Accounts
Editor, Times-Union:I want to thank Congressman Chocola for his support for voluntary personal retirement accounts as a positive reform to Social Security. This is an issue that directly affects my husband and me as we are young parents who would benefit from the opportunity to grow a retirement nest egg, and personal accounts would most assuredly benefit our two children when they enter the workforce.
Though I am currently a stay-at-home mother homeschooling our children, my husband pays taxes into the Social Security system. It is unlikely that the system will be able to pay the benefits he has earned or that I would earn if I choose to re-enter the workforce in the future. Personal accounts would allow us a choice. We can invest a portion of our Social Security taxes into an account that we own and can count on when we retire, or we can choose to remain in the current system. Either way, it would be our choice.
American workers deserve the ability to decide for themselves what is in their best interest for retirement, and I urge all readers to thank Congressman Chocola for his leadership in supporting voluntary personal accounts.
Renee James
Lakeville, via e-mail
Stolen Fish
Editor, Times-Union:To Whom It May Concern,
My grandson spent several hours on Chapman Lake fishing with his friends and caught around 40 fish. Unfortunately, one string got lost in the lake and couldn't be retrieved. The other string got tied to my pier because it was too dark to clean them at that time. He gets up around 3:30 a.m. to get ready for work and had to get to bed early. The next night he came back to clean the fish and the string was still there but the fish had been taken. He could tell the fish had been taken off the string because he had tied it in three knots and only one knot was holding the string in place. There was no sign that the fish had gotten off by themselves (around 20 fish).
I hope the scoundrel who took off with the fish enjoyed them. It's too bad that they couldn't have caught their own. They might have enjoyed them more. But it seems people like that have no conscience.
Doris E. Moody
Warsaw
Daylight Time
Editor, Times-Union:In Saturday's News Views, you were concerned about being called an idiot and laughing stock. I think you crossed that threshold when you thought it was a great idea to turn over our time to the politicians and bureaucrats.
There is a recently published book by Michael Downing titled "Spring Forward". The annual madness of Daylight Saving time, it is available on Amazon.com or at the Syracuse Public Library. Read the book and explain the energy savings to me. One person's gain is another person's pain. It is a 24/7 economy now.
If Mitch Daniels, Brian Bosma and Dave Wolkins would have had someone read it to them, maybe we would not be in this mess. If this law were put on a ballot referendum, it never would have passed.
I will support any candidate with both personal and financial help to get this law overturned.
Tom Morehouse
Milford, via e-mail
Baker Youth Suggestion
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to make a suggestion to the Baker Youth Clubs board in their efforts to move into a new home.
I would suggest they consider purchasing the former Redeemer Lutheran School site on West Lake Street in Warsaw. The club could, for the most part, move into a facility without the need to build or modify significantly.
The building comes complete with a gym, locker facilities, kitchen and multiple class rooms. There is also room on the lot to develop outdoor activities for the youth served by the group. With Redeemer unable to meet their financial obligations for the school, Baker Youth Clubs' purchase of the facility could prevent a neighborhood blight from being established in an empty, easily vandalized property.
Tim Madison
Warsaw, via e-mail
Natural Time
Editor, Times-Union:For millennia, people have measured time based on the position of the sun - it was noon when the sun was highest in the sky. Sundials were used well into the Middle Ages, when mechanical clocks began to appear. Cities would set their town clock by measuring the position of the sun, but every city would be on a slightly different time.
The time indicated by the apparent sun on a sun dial is called Apparent Solar Time, or true local time. The time shown by the fictitious sun is called Mean Solar Time, or local mean time when measured in terms of any longitudinal meridian.
Since Indianapolis is basically located at the center of the state, set up a sundial in front of the capital, see what the Apparent Solar Time is, and align the entire state to time of the zone closest to that of the sundial. If our elected officials can't come to a decision, why not let nature provide the solution?
Tim Madison
Warsaw, via e-mail
Wants Central Time
Editor, Times-Union:I was outside at 5:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday of this week. It was still dark. The street lights were still on. If we were on Eastern time it would be 6:30 a.m. The middle of August and it would be dark at 6:30 in the morning. Children are about to start school again and many would be leaving in the dark.
I don't know about the rest of the people in this county but I like going to work in daylight. I can see the kids as they wait for the school bus, I can see the joggers out for their morning run and I can see that deer lying in wait to dart in front of me.
Of an evening I like it to be dark by 8 or 9 p.m. If it stayed light until 10 p.m., the neighbor who waits for it to cool down to mow his lawn will be mowing at 10 p.m. I kind of like to sleep at that hour. Maybe Mr. Gerard will come over mow his lawn earlier in the day so I can sleep.
We hear from the Chamber of Commerce that they cannot figure out how to do business with New York if we are on Chicago time. Seems to me the folks in Chicago have been doing it for years and I would hope we are almost as smart as they are. Maybe Chicago should go on New York time. If we are wasting millions dealing with the time difference, then a big city like Chicago has to be wasting billions of dollars. Chamber of Commerce says we waste energy, I can't figure out how if I turn on a light an hour earlier in the evening is any different than if I turn the same light on for an extra hour in the morning.
I liked it when we never had to mess with the clock, but if business interests forces us to make a choice, then let's go with Central time.
Jim Martin
Leesburg, via e-mail
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- Losing Rights - Retirement Accounts - Stolen Fish - Daylight Time - Baker Youth Suggestion - Natural Time - Wants Central Time
Losing Rights
Editor, Times-Union:We are gradually losing the constitutional rights our ancestors fought and died for.
We are not losing them to terrorists or Iraqis, we are losing them to the two major political parties we insist on re-electing year after year. We are losing them to the idea that we can be protected from all things bad or evil and the idea the government can do it.
The Libertarian party is the only party that will work to protect all your rights.
The Democrats are straight-forward about taking your guns.
The Republicans are more devious. They will pass laws, the violation of which will deny you the right to own firearms. You don't break the law? You must not drive. The speed limit is a law. Click it or ticket law. Open container of alcohol in your car law. Running a red light, accidental or otherwise, law. If you are a librarian and tell a customer the FBI is checking their records, you are a criminal. Got a parking ticket? Been busted smoking a lousy marijuana cigarette, you're a criminal. Make no mistake, the Republicans are attacking your Second Amendment rights as much as the Democrats.
I would like to repeat a statement made by Benjamin Franklin that I have come across many times in the course of reading about our Revolutionary War years. "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." Another famous quote by a well-known philosopher, Pogo, goes, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
If we really are the liberty-loving people we claim to be, we better start acting it. Pounding our chests and sending our young people off to die in places all over the world will eventually cost us our freedom.
Charles Carnes
Warsaw
Retirement Accounts
Editor, Times-Union:I want to thank Congressman Chocola for his support for voluntary personal retirement accounts as a positive reform to Social Security. This is an issue that directly affects my husband and me as we are young parents who would benefit from the opportunity to grow a retirement nest egg, and personal accounts would most assuredly benefit our two children when they enter the workforce.
Though I am currently a stay-at-home mother homeschooling our children, my husband pays taxes into the Social Security system. It is unlikely that the system will be able to pay the benefits he has earned or that I would earn if I choose to re-enter the workforce in the future. Personal accounts would allow us a choice. We can invest a portion of our Social Security taxes into an account that we own and can count on when we retire, or we can choose to remain in the current system. Either way, it would be our choice.
American workers deserve the ability to decide for themselves what is in their best interest for retirement, and I urge all readers to thank Congressman Chocola for his leadership in supporting voluntary personal accounts.
Renee James
Lakeville, via e-mail
Stolen Fish
Editor, Times-Union:To Whom It May Concern,
My grandson spent several hours on Chapman Lake fishing with his friends and caught around 40 fish. Unfortunately, one string got lost in the lake and couldn't be retrieved. The other string got tied to my pier because it was too dark to clean them at that time. He gets up around 3:30 a.m. to get ready for work and had to get to bed early. The next night he came back to clean the fish and the string was still there but the fish had been taken. He could tell the fish had been taken off the string because he had tied it in three knots and only one knot was holding the string in place. There was no sign that the fish had gotten off by themselves (around 20 fish).
I hope the scoundrel who took off with the fish enjoyed them. It's too bad that they couldn't have caught their own. They might have enjoyed them more. But it seems people like that have no conscience.
Doris E. Moody
Warsaw
Daylight Time
Editor, Times-Union:In Saturday's News Views, you were concerned about being called an idiot and laughing stock. I think you crossed that threshold when you thought it was a great idea to turn over our time to the politicians and bureaucrats.
There is a recently published book by Michael Downing titled "Spring Forward". The annual madness of Daylight Saving time, it is available on Amazon.com or at the Syracuse Public Library. Read the book and explain the energy savings to me. One person's gain is another person's pain. It is a 24/7 economy now.
If Mitch Daniels, Brian Bosma and Dave Wolkins would have had someone read it to them, maybe we would not be in this mess. If this law were put on a ballot referendum, it never would have passed.
I will support any candidate with both personal and financial help to get this law overturned.
Tom Morehouse
Milford, via e-mail
Baker Youth Suggestion
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to make a suggestion to the Baker Youth Clubs board in their efforts to move into a new home.
I would suggest they consider purchasing the former Redeemer Lutheran School site on West Lake Street in Warsaw. The club could, for the most part, move into a facility without the need to build or modify significantly.
The building comes complete with a gym, locker facilities, kitchen and multiple class rooms. There is also room on the lot to develop outdoor activities for the youth served by the group. With Redeemer unable to meet their financial obligations for the school, Baker Youth Clubs' purchase of the facility could prevent a neighborhood blight from being established in an empty, easily vandalized property.
Tim Madison
Warsaw, via e-mail
Natural Time
Editor, Times-Union:For millennia, people have measured time based on the position of the sun - it was noon when the sun was highest in the sky. Sundials were used well into the Middle Ages, when mechanical clocks began to appear. Cities would set their town clock by measuring the position of the sun, but every city would be on a slightly different time.
The time indicated by the apparent sun on a sun dial is called Apparent Solar Time, or true local time. The time shown by the fictitious sun is called Mean Solar Time, or local mean time when measured in terms of any longitudinal meridian.
Since Indianapolis is basically located at the center of the state, set up a sundial in front of the capital, see what the Apparent Solar Time is, and align the entire state to time of the zone closest to that of the sundial. If our elected officials can't come to a decision, why not let nature provide the solution?
Tim Madison
Warsaw, via e-mail
Wants Central Time
Editor, Times-Union:I was outside at 5:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday of this week. It was still dark. The street lights were still on. If we were on Eastern time it would be 6:30 a.m. The middle of August and it would be dark at 6:30 in the morning. Children are about to start school again and many would be leaving in the dark.
I don't know about the rest of the people in this county but I like going to work in daylight. I can see the kids as they wait for the school bus, I can see the joggers out for their morning run and I can see that deer lying in wait to dart in front of me.
Of an evening I like it to be dark by 8 or 9 p.m. If it stayed light until 10 p.m., the neighbor who waits for it to cool down to mow his lawn will be mowing at 10 p.m. I kind of like to sleep at that hour. Maybe Mr. Gerard will come over mow his lawn earlier in the day so I can sleep.
We hear from the Chamber of Commerce that they cannot figure out how to do business with New York if we are on Chicago time. Seems to me the folks in Chicago have been doing it for years and I would hope we are almost as smart as they are. Maybe Chicago should go on New York time. If we are wasting millions dealing with the time difference, then a big city like Chicago has to be wasting billions of dollars. Chamber of Commerce says we waste energy, I can't figure out how if I turn on a light an hour earlier in the evening is any different than if I turn the same light on for an extra hour in the morning.
I liked it when we never had to mess with the clock, but if business interests forces us to make a choice, then let's go with Central time.
Jim Martin
Leesburg, via e-mail
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