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Letters to the editor

Bert Naumann

In response to Richard Carnes’ commentary on PETA and animal rights: In a previous reference to the Abu Ghraib prison activities, Mr. Carnes stated his opinion that torture of prisoners is permissible in a good cause. Any Gestapo or Russian NKVD playbook is loaded with good causes. It might concern Americans to see our law enforcement and intelligence agencies sink to that level of imbecility.Mr. Carnes’ endorsement of torture along with his indifference to the mistreatment of animals clearly proves his courageous ability to endure pain inflicted on subjects other than himself.In demeaning animal life, Mr. Carnes misses the essential fact that the natural world which covers and feeds him is in no way dependent on his existence. His position at the top of the food chain results from evolutionary change, not celestial selection.At some future time, the world may experience these related events; exhaustion of resources sustaining the world’s population. Declining world population resulting from starvation, disease, wars or natural disasters.If there is a reasonable possibility that extraterrestrial life exists, the arrival of alien life on the planet might take place in this crisis period. If one assumes that ETs operate from an ethical baseline similar to our own, global conditions might be favorable for the harvesting of native animals for food and medical research.Mr. Carnes might find it appropriate to keep his body fit, clean and appetizing as he assumes his new position in someone else’s food chain.Bert NaumannLand of the freeTo the people who have no compassion for the Mexican workers, one said, “Our system gets cheated, our citizens get cheated, our communities go to hell”: Do you ever step back and take a look at history? What did the white man do to the Native Americans? Was this our land to take as we please? Are Mexicans stepping onto our land or reclaiming what was once their ancestors’?Another racist claims, ‘This has nothing to do with prejudice and everything to do with breaking the laws this country is founded on.” You are right. This country was founded on breaking laws. If it was not a law the white man put into effect, then it was null and void! Correct?Yes, it was a long time ago when those brutalities occurred to the real people of North America, but look where we are going. You will say the founding fathers have made the United States a place for the American dream to come true. Is it a dream that all of our resources are being used up? Our land, water and air are polluted. We are at war. We are inconvenienced if our Latte isn’t perfect. We work 80 hours a week. Our kids don’t have parents who actually take the time to raise them. We are so conditioned to want bigger and better at any price. Our society has so many problems, we don’t need hostilities towards a friendly neighbor. We don’t need to place the blame on other people. We are so divided.You who think we don’t breed racism and prejudice are wrong. If the undocumented worker cleans our toilets, then it’s OK for them to work. But if a skilled, undocumented worker has a respectable job, then let’s tell everyone to call the INS. The United States is hated by many. Soon we will be our own prisoners in the land of the free!V. ProudGypsumSmart aleck!As usual, the commentary page of the Vail Daily continues to be a forum for egomaniacal smart alecks. I usually wouldn’t waste time responding to such Cacioppo- or Carnes-like drivel, but your Feb. 23 column was so insulting, I felt inclined to reply. If you called someone a “pathetic … rube” to his face, you might expect a somewhat spirited response. Yet, in a public forum, in front of all of our families and friends, you feel free to paint EVERY citizen of Minturn with that brush? Shame on you. Issues and opinions aside, there is no call for such petty discourse. At best, you owe some folks an apology. At worst, you have proven your critics’ point that the Daily is less a bastion of journalism than a rag preoccupied with sensational personal attacks. Carl Babcock MinturnEditor’s note: At the risk of being smart-aleck, the offending column did not call anyone in Minturn “pathetic” or a “rube.” It did point out how the town government’s quick embrace of the would-be developer of land that would double the size of town looks to much of the community outside. Vail, Colorado


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