Published: April 29, 2007 02:48 pm            

4/29/2007 Letters to the Editor

What if the bee disappeared?

Dear Editor:



Albert Einstein once said : “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four more years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

For those who missed it on the recent news broadcasts on TV, it may come as a surprise that we have an epidemic decimating the honeybee population around the world. Here in America the East Coast is down about 70 percent, while the West Coast is down around 80 percent. Also across central Europe they have lost between 12 percent and 25 percent of their bee hives, even up to 80 percent in some areas of Germany.

Bees are necessary for the pollination of basically all food crops in the world. And here in America there is a great deal of consternation among those in agriculture about the shortage of pollinating bees, for without the bees as Einstein pointed out, there is no more mankind. There are no dead bees in or near their hives, therefore it is difficult to investigate the causes. The bee populations are disappearing without a trace. There are many diseases that can cause bees to lose their sense of orientation so they can not find their way back to the hive.

While there has not been a direct cause found, the highest percentage in the world of genetically modified cornfields, about 40 percent, are in America. Notice, I am not saying that GM plants are the cause, only that there is a possibility of a link. There is speculation at some German universities that have researched the problem that the GM corn could be altering the intestinal lining of the bees allowing parasitic and fungal infections due to a collapsed immune system. The study was between 2001 and 2004, concerning a variant called “Bt corn” where a soil bacterium was inserted in the plants genes that made it toxic to insect pests.

It is additionaly interesting that the people who foresee Dec. 21, 2012 as the demise of mankind on earth may have another correlation.



W.V. Bonds

Cleburne



Our troops still need help

Dear Editor:



We cannot turn on our television sets, read our newspapers, or even have discussions with our friends without realizing that our troops still need help. We need the Congress to provide basic funding through a Defense Emergency Supplemental Appropriation Bill with “no” strings attached. And pass it without delay.

As the American Legion family we support our fighting men and women now in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting the global war on terrorism. We must get funding through to support our troops without arbitrary timetables for withdrawal. The men and women of the armed forces in these theaters of operation are dependent on this funding to sustain and achieve their military missions. This funding is critical to their success and safe passage home

We must contact our representatives and senators now and let them know that we are watching them daily on CNN, and we don’t like what we see. We demand their unilateral support for our military men and women without restrictions being placed on our president. Please make those calls today. If you have called earlier, call again! You may send e-mails also, they are just as fast.

Please make those calls and spread the word to your fellow auxiliary members and other Americans. Our troops need our support immediately. God bless America and God bless our troops.

For God and country.



Marty Peters

American Legion Auxiliary Unit 50 Cleburne



Be careful about gossip

Dear Editor:



Gossip is defined as idle talk or rumors, hearsay. Slander is a false, defamatory statement that causes harm to someone’s reputation. Why do I bring these up? Because there is a lot of talk or sharing that is going on in Cleburne. Stories that are not true but cause people to think ill of others.

What makes it slander is when no one bothers to get the facts and so they gossip about a lie as if it were truth. Who does this? This can be done by an individual, a civic group, an office rumor — it could be any gathering of people, it could even be a government entity, or your own family.

All it takes is someone spewing out innuendo and inferences. They don’t actually have to say it plainly because many who hear it will take it, expand on it, and tell the tale to a few others who will tell it to a few others who will tell it to a few others, on and on.

Did you ever play the game of Secret? Everyone sits in a line, and the first person whispers a message to the second, who passes it on down the line. When it gets to the end, it very rarely even resembles what it started as. And this is just a game. With gossip/slander, it starts out as a lie and only changes into a different lie.

This actually not only hurts the object of the story, it hurts the gossip, and it hurts our town. This has happened to many people in Cleburne, myself included. Words do hurt. People believing those words hurts a lot more.(Prov 18:8) People treating you as if the stories were true hurts even more.

Even if you are not of the Christian faith, you have morals and ethics. You need to treat people the way you want to be treated. If you are of the Christian faith, you need to reread the first chapter of Titus, among others.

Let’s not be so quick to tell tales. Ask the person who the story is about if it is true. Do a check on the Internet. And when all is said and done, do you still need to say it? If it protects children, yes, you do. If it protects the elderly, yes, you do. If it protects anyone, yes, you do. But make sure it is the truth. Otherwise, you are just spreading a lie and damaging a life. And if you are Christian, you know that all liars shall have their place in the lake of fire. (Revelations 21:8) They receive the same punishment as a murderer, among others.



Sarah Chapman

Cleburne



Speaking to the president

Dear Editor:



Editor’s note: This is an open letter to President George Bush.



I voted for you four times as the lesser of two evils. In retrospect, I may have been wrong. I want to address you in three areas: gasoline prices, illegal aliens and the war in Iraq.

When are you going to get off of your political rear and do something about oil prices? All you have to do is press Congress to lift restrictions on drilling and building refineries. Your pie-in-the-sky ideas on alternative fuels are fine for the future, but this is now. I won’t be able to afford one of these new vehicles so I am stuck with what I have for some time to come, plus the present cost of living has been raised to an untenable level for someone on a fixed income.

Illegal aliens are no problem. Build camps for these illegals, just as we did for American citizens of Japanese descent in the ’40s. Incarcerate these people and make them work for their keep until such a time as their government or some individuals pay for their transportation back to their own country. As for the work force, tell the able-bodied people on welfare that their payments will be reduced by the amount they could make if they took one of these jobs now being held by these illegals.

You really started off as a gung-ho military leader, then you declared hostilities at an end, but the other side wasn’t through fighting. Now we are mired in another no-win Vietnam type situation. Prosecute this war. Take it to the enemy, level neighborhoods. Deny the enemy hiding places. Tell surrounding countries that if they are allowing men and munitions to enter Iraq they are next on the list. Either take positive action now or get our troops out of there.

As for democracy, this is a peculiar American institution. It is wrong to try to impose it on people who do not have the will or mentality to handle it. Muslims are guided by their religion, and democracy has no meaning for them.



Donald Henry

Cleburne



Disappointed with library commentary

Dear Editor:



I was so surprised by the content of the April 22 guest commentary that I asked Dale Gosser, Times-Review editor, who wrote it. He said it was a standard-type piece contributed by library personnel most months. This leaves me to understand that it speaks for our library and city officials.

It refers to the “terribly old, spinster librarian (who smelled a little funny herself)” and continues in regard to the Cleburne Public Library, “where none of the staff is middle-aged.” This implies that only younger employees are of value.

My activities put me in touch with about 74 library directors from Venus to Paducah. The majority appear middle-aged and competent to me. I know they work to upgrade their libraries, encourage wide public use, sponsor programs for children and Hispanics, stock reading materials for a wide range of interests, etc.

About two years ago our library’s budget was cut approximately 50 percent. Fortunately, before difficulties with the state could occur, it was corrected.

I have for some time said that if libraries would change their names to sports facilities, they would receive much better political and governmental treatment.

I am fed up with our tax money going so heavily into Splash Station and the sports fields. (It is our tax money and the spending is approved by the city council, whether it is called 4B or narrow thinking.)

Our third-rate senior center can’t get any help because, as a well placed city employee told me, they don’t want to spend $50,000 annually for a director. But they are spending $191,000 for a golf cart garage.

Youth may hold potential but age has shown results. I would like to see a more reasonable attitude manifested by our library and city officials. Perhaps more than any other public institution, the library should be welcoming to all citizens. The senior center should be of use to all those over 49 years old, not just to those who use it as a dance and domino hall.

Sincerely,



Barbara L. Chayer

Cleburne



Defending Imus wrong

Dear Editor:



I feel compelled to respond to a recent guest article printed in this paper. My disappointment and outrage just bubbled over that anyone in Cleburne could defend the obnoxious raving of Don Imus. His slander of a group of high-achieving, hard working female students who represented their university in an outstanding manner is beyond belief. That people feel Imus was unjustly removed from the airwaves is amazing.

Just because someone does good in the community, must we overlook evil in their manner and behavior? I don’t think so. If the Rutgers lady basketball team must endure insults to their character by people who view such remarks as “entertainment,” how much more must the ordinary young black woman endure in school and community from the redneck who sees such language as just a joke? If a black man uses such language toward a black woman, he is just as insensitive as Mr. Imus. However, that conduct will come from the fringe of the black community, not from someone in a position to speak for the entire community as Mr. Imus purports to do.

I hope the good that Mr. Imus has done will continue. As he seeks to rebuild his career, he will perhaps have more time than before to give to such projects as the previous writer mentioned — a ranch for kids with cancer. That certainly is an admirable project. However, if Mr. Imus gets another job in entertainment, he should be aware that he needs a new act; the previous one is outmoded by at least a century.

As for the previous writer, I would suggest he needs to get some fresh air in his brain by listening to another radio station, perhaps one with a little less hate speech as programming.



Sharon Corder

Cleburne



Watch out for cyclists

Dear Editor:



With spring here and the weather improving, it’s time to remind all drivers that the “Goatneck” practice is starting. Bicycling is a big event here in July, but you have to get ready and that means more bicyclists on the streets and roads.

The nominal speed of a casual cyclist is 10 mph, and most of the vehicles are averaging 40 mph. The closing speed is 30 mph or 44 feet per second. If you want to warn a cyclist of your presence then two light “beep beeps” on the horn at least 100 feet behind the cyclists is required; that’s only a two second closing time. Don’t wait until you are 10 feet behind then lay on the horn. Remember, a two-wheel vehicle going 10 mph with less than one inch of rubber per wheel on the road is basically unstable. A scare or surprise is a crash for the cyclist.

If you drive with a boat trailer, remember the trailer is three feet wider than the tow vehicle. When you just miss the cyclist with the mirror, you could easily hit them with the trailer wheel. Swinging the trailer back into the drive lane is also dangerous since most drivers don’t have a real feel for their total length. A swinging trailer could easily hit a cyclist. For 18 wheelers your trailer is just as dangerous since you have a wind factor as well, more length and poorer vision behind.

A reminder, Texas has adopted laws to protect cyclists, and it would be a shame to find out the “three feet” law is enforced with the injury or death of a cyclist.

As the specialty plates remind us, “share the road.”

Happy cycling.



Harold Darling

Cleburne



Yellow Jackets a good role model

Dear Editor:



In today’s professional sports it is really hard to find a role model that we would like for our children to look up to. The Cleburne Yellow Jacket baseball boosters recently held fan appreciation night at the ball game. Numerous youngsters from the area little league came out and were given free admittance if they wore their team jersey.

As well, all fans received free hot dogs during the game. It turned out to be one of the most exciting games I have seen. The Yellow Jackets mounted a heroic come-from-behind effort to tie the game, pushed it to extra innings, and then, ultimately won the game. After the game, all children were invited onto the field for autographs from the coaches and players.

Let me tell you, my sons were excited. They could hardly wait to get out there. During the autograph session the coaches were very gracious, and the players were true role models. It was great to see them taking the time with the younger kids. I am sure they were all extremely tired after the long, hard-fought game, but that did not make any difference. They continued to sign autographs.

I think my youngest, who is 5, went through the line twice just to get the attention of the teenage athletes. Some may not think it such a big deal, but I continue to get a lump in my throat when I think about it. I would like to thank Coach Ross Taylor, all his assistant coaches and all the players for showing what true role models are. As well, thank you to the boosters for a great night at the ball game.



Darryle Taylor, president

Cleburne Baseball/Softball

Association



Thanks from Joshua FFA

Dear Editor:



The Joshua FFA and Joshua FFA Alumni would like to extend a special thanks to the following businesses and individuals for contributing to the purchase of Joshua FFA student projects at the Johnson County Junior Livestock Show: Holveck Excavating, AAA Drilling , T&H Trucking, Pathway Communications, Unique Fold & Mail, Rocky Bransom, Vest Well Service, Lambert Oil, Lee’s Western Wear, Big J Automotive, All State Insurance Greg French, Chicken Express of Joshua, Tom’s Small Engines, M&M Arabians Enterprises, Forrest Chevrolet AutoPark, Chrystal Star Farms, Harper Cattle Co., Pumpco Inc., Embry Land & Cattle, AC Properties Inc., Community Bank, Lonestar Chrysler Dodge Jeep Auto, Billy and Florence Howell, Lyness Construction, Warren Cat, Devon Energy, Suzannah’s Restaurant, Perdue, Brandon & Fielder, Tom Allen Cabinets, First State Bank Texas, Johnson County Farm Bureau, Livingston Pool, Foster Shorthorns, Minix Cattle Co., Kid’s Campus Learning Center, TXI Midlothian, Wells Fargo Bank Texas, Miller’s Metal Buildings, H-E-B, State Farm Cleburne, Prime Resources, Able Tire, BMH Transportation, Tour de GoatNeck.com and Colorado River Concrete.



Michael Ray

Joshua

        

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