Dialogue

CORNDOG SHAME

People will have to choose between a real war hero and a fake cowardly warhawk. (“Boots on the Ground,” December 14) I hope that Corndog’s statement that “Your civil liberties don’t matter if you’re dead” comes back to bite him in the ass. The home of the Alamo should be ashamed to have a senator like Corndog Cornyn.

Gary Denton Via e-mail

OH, CHRIST

Our Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the tyranny of the majority but that is what Suzy Roberts is undergoing. (“Suzy Roberts Never Had a Prayer,” November 30) I applaud her.

Sheila Finch Via e-mail

I’m sorry that some Christians behaved un-Christ-like towards Ms. Roberts, but many people in this country today don’t seem to understand that Christians have the same rights as adherents of other religions. There is no reason a member of another faith could not get on the school board and pray to their own deity. I don’t understand why those you call religious minorities think their rights trump those of Christians.

Becky Hickman Via e-mail

DECENT BURIAL

As a technical professional in the field of modeling radioactive waste sites, I would like to offer the following comments (“Burying the Opposition,” December 14). There is no doubt that this site, like nearly every other radioactive waste site, will eventually leak radionuclides into local groundwater and the atmosphere through resuspension of dust and soils. Whether these phenomena pose a potential threat to future human health and the environment is really just a matter of timing and rates of leakage. To claim that such a site could contain wastes indefinitely is counter to known physical laws.

It’s really too bad that the Sierra Blanca site was abandoned, as from a technical point of view this is the best site in the state. There is certainly a need for some sort of low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Texas. Each state needs to have its own, or a compact with some other state to fill this need. Sierra Blanca should be reconsidered.

The state should develop an independent performance assessment model of the Andrews County site in order to assess its technical merits. This model should be used for decision making in permitting, waste acceptance, and site operation. Of course, this modeling costs money. Why not have Waste Control Services foot the bill for an independent analysis?

In general, radioactive waste sites should probably not be privately run. This is a case for public works, so that all operations are open to public disclosure and comment. Privatizing radioactive waste disposal leads to corruption of the process, and ultimately does not serve the public interests of health and environmental protection.

John Tauxe Via e-mail

ROCK ON

This was a very uplifting article for me as a Muslim. (“Muhammad Rocked the Casbah,” December 14) I was impressed by the accuracy of the information which involves a new language, new religion, and new concepts. I think its value is in recognizing and validating the loneliness and alienation of young Muslims, so they don’t have to carry their worries, fears, and concerns all alone. I agree that the Prophets were all revolutionaries, and I think these punk rockers have found a good use for religion. I don’t know, but I don’t think God would object to that. Hats off to Lydia Crafts for putting this all together.

Mary Lahaj Via e-mail

TORT TALEs

Seeing as though famed Mississippi plaintiff’s lawyer Richard “Dickie” Skruggs has just been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to bribe a civil judge with $50,000, Suzanne Batchelor [“An Imaginary Crisis,” Nov. 30] may wish to rethink some of her admiration for both Skruggs and predictably anti-business gadfly and book author Stephanie Mencimer. This is America where, thankfully, the First Amendment reigns. So Batchelor, Mencimer, Skruggs, and others can deny all they want the fact that abuse of our civil justice system by greedy trial lawyers costs Americans jobs and erodes the public’s respect for our courts. But ask the American people. Poll after poll indicates that overwhelming majorities believe that lawsuit abuse and the parasitic pursuit of “jackpot” justice by a certain class of lawyers do indeed comprise a real problem in this country.

Darren McKinney Director of Communications American Tort Reform Association Washington, D.C.