ABQjournal: Letters to the Editor
Brave New Education
I WAS DELIGHTED to read the story about the drug searches at Rio Rancho High School. The value of this educational opportunity is incalculable. It is absolutely essential that our young adult students understand the importance of these exercises.
Not only do they learn the importance of obedience to the law, they also now have a better understanding of law enforcement’s need to do warrantless searches and seizures whenever there is the slightest chance that drugs might be involved.
They also received valuable instruction in the need for quiet, unquestioning obedience to all dictates of anyone in authority. We are preparing these students for life in the 21st century. All citizens will need special training in these concepts as the new police state emerges.
JOE GABEL
Albuquerque
Bravo, Joe.
The Radical Right speaks constantly about “respect for the law” even as they push laws, like South Dakota’s abortion ban, that neither respect precedent nor the citizens. The Radical Right can’t stand all those “illegals” demanding — demanding! — rights. The Radical Right can’t stand the courts, where reasoning has standards, evidence and proof — those damn unelected activist judges; those frivolous lawsuits. The Radical Right hates government, compromise and nuance but loves obedience to absolute authority (the bible). The Radical Right clings to a dim-witted strongman who feels free to interpret all laws any way he sees fit. We’re one terrorist attack from martial law.
Just shut up, get in line, and do what the men in uniform tell you to do — or else! mjh
PS: As an aside, sarcasm is tricky in writing or verbally. Some never get it; some hate it. In the same section, I think Gary didn’t handle it quite as deftly as Joe, though he makes his point even so.
Drought Does Not Compute
SOME PEOPLE are saying we are heading into a severe drought and that we ought to conserve water. I say bull. There is no drought. This is just something cooked up by the water companies to get us to pay more dollars for less water.
Think about it. If there were really a problem with lack of water then Intel would not be allowed to use 3-8 million gallons a day from the aquifer to make computer chips. Intel is an environmentally responsible company that cares deeply about the community and if there is a shortage of water, they will be the first to cut back. Honest.
They would convert to the SCORR system developed at Los Alamos, which would cut their water use by 95 percent if there really were a water shortage. But as long as water is plentiful, Intel is going to keep using it. And what’s good for Intel is good for the community.
Don’t let the water company push you around. Don’t use less water. Use more. Water your lawn twice a day, not once every other day. Wash your SUV as often as you want and if a little water runs into the gutter, so what? Enjoy those long showers and don’t worry about running the dishwasher and washing machine if they are only half full. Water is our God-given right, and if God did not want us to use water, he would not have given us the faucet.
GARY W. PRIESTER
Placitas