Editor, Times-Union: Yes, Mr. Beall, we have added motorcycles (the dirt bike), the ring-a-ding-ding variety - not the Harley, not the ya-ma-ma hopper, not the 110 mph crotch rocket, but the dirt bike that hangs around all day ripping the guts out of peace and quiet, that only the rider and the viewer enjoys but the neighbor has to endure the noise, the dust, the shattered solitude.
ATV's, yes, I can see farmers with them. When I was raised on the farm in Crown Point 45 years ago, I wish I could have had one. It would have saved a lot of foot miles. And I know if I would have bothered someone with it, I'd get my butt kicked by my dad. But, Mr. Beall, some young men now-a-days don't have dads or ones that care anyway. My little boy can do anything he wants-type! They are the type that go on to college and burn live cats for dorm fun - unrestrained youth!
Ridiculous, you write? Not! It was clear out of reach of common sense. Nothing was said about criminalizing a dog - maybe its inconsiderate owner. Christian tolerance? What if you ask them nicely numerous times and took the racket for seven months and all we received was unchristian response. Wake up to that every morning.
Nothing was said about jail! About a civil suit? Ha! The complainer hires a lawyer, the defendant hires a lawyer, out goes big bucks, right, and there go the lawyers, laughing, with your money, laughing while the dog keeps right on barking. Get real, Mr. Beall! After the lawyers get all the money, the prosecutor says "I wouldn't touch that case with a 10-foot pole. I didn't go to all these schools to take a barking dog case." No! To stop the noise, get in their wallet! Just like paying a parking ticket, a speeding ticket or a loud muffler fine. Noise is noise!
Noise defined: discordant, disagreeable, a loud unwanted intrusion. Noise does not have to be loud to be harmful. Noise is a sound that bothers us. Stress is a product of that bother, a dripping faucet, a barking dog, motorcycles. These are just some of the things that can trigger heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, muscle contractions and worst of all rises in blood cholesterol. It goes on. So says the council on the environment of New York City.
Mr. Beall, I want my home to be a haven from unwanted noise. My family and I have a basic human right to quiet and so do you. If you want it. If you haven't been awakened at 5:45 in the morning on a constant basis then you wouldn't understand. If you have never been harassed on both of your property lines when you try to work in your garden, then you wouldn't understand.
I invite you out to our junk yard dog alley to take a look-see and then you can make an honest appraisal. Don't make it before you read the ordinance, please. Every town in this county has a nuisance ordinance. Why can't we the people of the county have the same safeguard against abusive noises?
Mr. Beall, snowmobiles were not mentioned. They are not a problem. If you want an ordinance against snowmobiles, crying children, outdated clothes, you petition the county for one. I have my hands full.
Peace be with you, David. Herschel Rainwater, Warsaw
Republican Horsetraders
Editor, Times-Union: Years ago, unscrupulous horse traders sold uninformed pilgrims what appeared to be a horse. Even though the "horse" had a stubborn streak and couldn't run very fast, it pulled the wagon well and the uninformed pilgrim was satisfied, until he met an informed fellow traveler with a real horse and consequently recognized the racket his "horse" was making as the braying of a jackass.
On that regard, I'd like to thank Charles Ruff for enlightening his fellow citizens by presenting our "founders" as the thoroughbreds that they were and making it clear the the racket about the rule of law that the republican prosecutors have clung so tightly to is nothing but a lot of braying.
But more importantly, in my opinion, when a particular political party - which normally doesn't embrace the notion of "civil rights" - uses a civil rights case in which the question of violation of liberty has been settled. (Paula Jones) and the judge (Susan Weber Wright) have not claimed a violation of law or liberty either, to impeach and attempt to remove a duly elected President is nothing less than prostitution of the constitution and the rule of law for political gain or even worse - character assassination!
I predict that just as the uninformed pilgrim became informed and chose by word of mouth, letter or wire, to inform their fellow man of unscrupulous horse traders, so will the American citizens of today; now informed that the "framers" intended that impeachment was to be used in cases of immediate danger to the republic and that elections were to be used to remove a president or party from rule because of bad conduct.
If I remember correctly, the unscrupulous horse traders, once caught, were themselves victims of violent retribution. Perhaps rightfully so. But who are the unscrupulous horse traders of today? Who are the people who have corralled the members of the republican party and prodded them and excited them such that their accusers emit a common bray? On the one hand, it is those people who have always hated Clinton. But worse still are those "televangelists" who wrap themselves in the flag, clench the Bible to their heart and, pointing at Clinton, scream "He must go!" while standing on a pillar of other peoples' money who are either merely uninformed or worse, misinformed.
Chuck Zimmerman, Leesburg
Honors Physics
Editor, Times-Union: Would someone wake up over at Warsaw High School and figure out that building cardboard boats in an honors physics class won't help the students next year at Purdue, IU or Ball State. What's next? An honors class in basket weaving to teach manual dexterity? Basing almost half of the semester grade on boat building is a slap in the face to the other students who are spending their time on real academics. It's no wonder Indiana SAT scores are some of the lowest in the country when our brightest students can spend three days building a boat to float in a swimming pool. Get Real!
Rich Weihler, Warsaw
Appreciates KCH
Editor, Times-Union: Local residents, please appreciate your local hospital, Kosciusko Community Hospital. My husband fell on December 22 and was admitted to KCH, suffering with excruciating pain. During this unbearable time, he was surrounded with the most tender loving care it is possible to administer. All of the care givers went beyond the line of duty to care for him.
On December 31, he was transferred to an area hospital for diagnosis and the care there was so negligent that we requested, and Dr. Haines granted, that he be returned back to KCH. This time he was admitted to the hospice room where my husband, family and I were again surrounded by the most tender loving care it is possible to give.
His death occurred on January 5 and again everyone embraced us with hugs, expressions of sorrow and requests for ways they could help us. They seemed to come out of the woodwork. How does one express an appreciation for all of this?
Carol Carlin, Warsaw
Impeachment Assessment
Editor, Times-Union: Everyone I talk to these days says how tired they are of these impeachment proceedings. Well, not me. In the first place, they have turned into such an absurd joke, I quit paying any attention to them long ago. But I really hope they drag on another 2 years.
Here we have one of the most liberal presidents in American history, coupled with a congress the press labels as "moderate." Which probably means they're only slightly to the right of the KGB. The way I see it, the only way liberty stands the chance of a snowball in h--- is for this to drag on to the next election.
I know it can't happen, but I would really like to see the congressional morons and socialist press tied in knots until we can get rid of this White House pervert.
Harold Kitson, Warsaw
Hillary On Impeachment
Editor, Times-Union: I get nauseous every time I see this. Thanks for the memory.
In 1974, a young female attorney helped draw up the rules under which Richard M. Nixon would be tried by the Congress for impeachment. "Impeachment," she wrote, "did not have to be for criminal offenses, but only for a 'course of conduct' that suggested an abuse of power or a disregard for the office of the President of the United States."
She wrote, "that a person's 'course of conduct,' while not particularly criminal, could be of such a nature that it destroys trust, discourages allegiance and demands action by the Congress." She wrote that "the office of the President is such that it calls for a higher level of conduct than the average citizen in the United States."
This young female attorney who helped write the standard under which Presidents are to be judged by the House of Representatives has a unique perspective about the present situation in the White House. You see, that female attorney, who said that an unethical "course of conduct" could overthrow a president, is now the First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
